Joey's Story
by CaptainSkitzoVamp
Summary: The Joker has once again escaped from Arkham but when he goes to find his sister he gets some very disturbing news and someone is going to get hurt R R. No Flames!
1. Punishment and Escaping

**Here is another Dark Knight Fiction! This is dedicated to . for convincing me to post this, since I initially wasn't going to, so thank you! I also want to say that I might not update this fast since I have other projects in the works (check out my page foe details) and remember to Review because I here from other authors that they make updates come along faster;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Dark Knight or any of its character but I-  
Joker: No "buts" about it you-  
S.S.J.L and I chase him away**

Enjoy!

Joey Brazen Napier, woke up on a Monday morning. His brown hair was tousled as per usual and his electric blue eyes were filled with dread.

School.

Joey had never been one for school. Well actually that would be a lie, he did, years ago but that was when he had a nice foster family but they had to give him up. Behind closed doors the husband and wife didn't exactly get along. So he was sent back to the orphanage or "Care Home". There weren't many people there, mostly the people that were too old, to the eyes of the social workers.  
To day he tried to delay but, as usual, Laura (one of the leaders of the place) had kicked him out before he had a chance to complain about a stomach ache.

It wasn't school itself that Joey hated. He liked to learn, the only thing he hated were most of the people _in_ the school. They were cruel. They liked to play games and he was their favorite toy.  
Just last week they had thrown him into a dumpster and a few days ago they decided to see if he was fire resistant. And that was only the tip of the ice-berg. He had the scars to prove it.

They picked on him for being smart, being an orphan and of course there were a few insults to his appearance added in too.  
Sometimes this didn't affect him but at others he tried desperately to leave reality and reached back into the depths of his mind. Sometimes he would imagine himself in a story or a movie but lately he had been finding himself dreaming about his mother. What she looked like, her name was still a mystery to him but he often wondered about her. Was she alive? Then again this was Gotham and Batman was certainly not around as long as Joey. But still his mind asked questions. If she died how did it happen? Was his father abusive? His father...  
And then his thoughts would escalate to absolutely anything and everything. He had a bad habit of doing that lately, and he didn't know what to make of it.

He made it to school ten minutes later and looked around cautiously.

"Looking for someone?"asked a voice from behind him in a mocking voice.

"I don't know who he would be looking for, it's not like the freak has any friends" said another voice.

Joey spun around to face the speakers. He already knew who they were but he also knew that it would be best if he was able to keep them in his site. If he were to lose them,God knows that would have happened.  
Today he had to put up with Shocker. He was flanked (as usual) by Talko. Nobody knew Talko's name, even the teachers addressed him as Talko. He had a bad dental job and had black hair with gray eyes. And when he talked he really **talked**.

"Whatcha doin' dorko?" asked Shocker. He pushed Joey as if he were trying to start a fight and he said this with a tough guy voice. "You walkin' on my ground?"

"No...I-I-I-" began Joey.

"Well lets just see about his punishment now"

"Yeah let's see the punishment" repeated Talko.

"No no no no no please don't" begged Joey, but it was too late. Shocker had grabbed him by the ear and was pulling him across the school entrance to the caretakers shed.

Some people stared on the way but they didn't say anything. Some looked on with pity in their eyes and others sniggered. Joey thought that he was dead. They _never _went to the shed. To be honest the caretaker didn't even go in there, since ghost stories had been associated with the place since HE had been going to school there. The place was abandoned.

They were about to go inside when they all heard a gruff yet muffled voice. None of them new where it had come from and this fact made them jump even higher.

"I don't think that's such a good idea" this sentence was followed by a cruel laugh that had all three boys shaking. "Your on your own, the ghosties can take it from here, right Talko?" said Shocker in a quiet voice before taking a step back.

"Uh huh" replied Talko, for the first time in his life he was stuck for words. And with that Shocker pushed Joey into the shed and ran off with Talko at his heels.

He stood there in complete shock and watched them as they left. The laugh came back but became unmuffled and less gruff. Joey turned around to see a girl appear from behind a pile of junk.

"Chloe, what the hell?" asked Joey stunned.

"I was near the place and I saw those whack jobs dragging you here and they are retards remember?" she responded as if it was were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Thanks, you never really believed the stories did you?" asked Joey again but this time curious.

"Not really, Do you actually think that a girl would sneak in here and do drugs with a goat? And it's always on Halloween!Jeez" she replied exasperated.

"Whatever, what do we have now?"

"History, now come on we or we are gonna be late"said Chloe while grabbing Joey's arm and pulling him out of the shed.

The history teacher wasn't in the room yet and everyone was yapping as usual. Except for Joey, he was sitting quietly in the back of the room and watching everyone else living their lives.  
He then started to think of his mother again. What she would look like and envisioning her pulling a pie out of the oven. Everything that he could think of, until a spit ball hit him in the face. Joey jumped and looked around.

A group of boys were gathered around the window and were pointing and sniggering at him. The boy who had blown him with a spitball was in the center just smirking at Joey with the straw still in his hands.  
Chloe was near the front of the room where the teacher had assigned her last week after nearly attacking one of the cheerleaders. She had a book in her hands but she was watching Joeys interaction with the boys with a worried expression.

"What's wrong freak?" asked one of the boys with mock sympathy.

"Don't waste your time man he won't answer anyway. He's a retard" said another boy with sandy hair.

"Well then maybe we should teach him a few manners" a tall brown haired boy suggested with a strong hint of malice in his voice.

"Yeah"

"Yeah"

"Definitely"

The agreements echoed around Joey which made his heart pace faster and his breath to hitch in his throat. This wasn't going to end nicely. One of the boys stood up and walked over to Joey with the other boys following behind him.

It was the guy with the spit ball and he was standing over Joey. He pushed him off of his chair and knocked him to the floor. Joey landed on the hard surface with his arm cushioning the blow. Joey bit down on his lip to prevent him from crying out in pain.  
"Come on Weirdo" called one of the boys. He walked over to where Joey lay and dragged him up by the cuff of his shirt and hit his head off of the wall. White hot pain shot through Joeys head and he felt the rush of blood enter his head, until he felt something wet on his forehead.  
He fell to the ground and the boys gathered around him until they picked him up and threw him across the classroom. He crashed into some desks and a few hardback books fell and hit him on his already injured head.

The boys were around him again but this time one of them turned around after a loud _Thunk_ could be heard.  
Chloe had just hit the leader of the group and he was shooting daggers at her.  
"Leave him alone" she ordered through clenched teeth.

"And what if I don't?"

"Yeah, you got a girl sticking up for you now?" asked the a guy with a bad mow-hawk.

"Fuck you!" spat Joey while literally spiting some blood out of his mouth.

Mow-hawk guy raised a fist but Chloe picked up a near-buy chair and hit him over the head with it.

"Come on" she ushered as she put Joey's arm over her shoulders and carried him from the room, leaving everything and everyone behind.

"We have to get you home yo-" she began.

"NO!" interrupted Joey. He wasn't going to go home yet. He couldn't. Laura might ask questions and she would go to the teachers and they might ignore her and call him a liar or they might go too soft or too hard on the bullies and they would come after him with a vengeance. Either way, if he ever went to an adult they would kill him. He was pretty much screwed.  
Chloe must have seen this in his eyes because in the next instant she was looking at the ground and saying "Fine, but I have got to go back and face my...crimes" she said trying to find the right words for her defense of Joey.

"Okay, I'll be in the shed after school, see you there?" Joey asked, trying to make her feel better.

"Deal" she responded with a small voice and glancing at him with her head down and her hands clasped together, and with that she ran back to the school.

Joey let out a sigh and started towards the shed. His bag was back in the classroom, that probably looked like a bomb had hit it, and only had his coat. He was grateful for this because he had his phone and his IPod in the pockets.  
At least he would have something to keep him entertained.

School would be over at 4pm and Chloe would probably have to stay back until 6pm tops.  
He went inside the shed and flicked through his IPod. He was angry so he decided to listen to a bit of 'Disturbed'. Some people might of found this strange but Joey had actually considered making a play-list for times like these. In fact he didn't know why he didn't, it would help to waste time and he was nearly always on his laptop.

He sat on a couple of boxes and faced the door. There was everything in the room that you would find in any normal shed. An old bike that looked as if it just came from the 40's, pieces of metal, old cans and (of course) a heater that looked as if it hadn't been used in ages.  
A couple of boxes fell to the ground beside Joey and he quickly put his IPod away. A low ruff voice started to swear and the language could easily put a sailor to shame. A figure walked out dressed in a purple suit and stared at Joey who was staring at the person with a dumbstruck expression on his face.

* * *

Freedom was never sweeter.

The Joker had once again escaped from Arkham and was know speeding through the dark streets of Gotham. He had already changed into his usual attire of purple and green and was now trying to drive and put on his greasepaint at the same time.

While applying the red he had narrowly dodged an on-coming truck and while applying the black he had barely swerved and avoided a wall. He didn't care though. He knew where he was going. He was going to see _her_ and he didn't care how late it was or what she could be doing at that exact hour but he was going to see her at all costs.

First stop was the Gotham Library since he needed some records.

Even if it wasn't so late he would still walk in through the normal doors with his weapons hidden away in his pockets. Then again if it were the middle of the day he would probably have gotten a few men and explosions together. So much fun in his opinion but he couldn't wait and he wanted the privacy which his why he had decided to bring his silencer to shoot the guards.

He parked in the dark alleyway beside the old building and jumped out of the driver's door, landing in a puddle while doing so.  
There was a thick fog around so the homeless people only saw a silhouette and not the actual man.

The green haired man picked the back door to the library and stepped inside. There was a musty smell in the air and the place was surrounded in dust mites and old books. The Joker walked to the other side to the room to a door with the word "Files" written on it and proceeded to once again pick the lock and then enter.

There were rows upon rows of filing cabinets.

_N_ thought the man dressed in purple as he began to walk along the rows. Twenty eight rows later and the Joker finally found the beginning of the N's. He pulled out the cabinet and began to flick through the files, searching for the right folder.  
Ten minutes later he finally found it and started to walk out of the room when a voice called "hey!" but the voice didn't have a choice to say much else because the man with the folder just pulled out a gun and shot the guard. He didn't even look at his victim, it was as if he was bored.  
He continued to walk out of the building and returned to the van and sped away.

He wove between the cars in Gothams' slow lanes and ended up near the Narrows. Then parked in front of an old abandoned building that was very tall and very old.  
The Joker got out of the van and began to make his way to the top of the building. Before his life had taken it's drastic change he had always come here with **her**. When their parents argued, separated or got too abusive they would always come here.  
When she went on her first date and found out that the guy was a jackass she had run off and avoided everyone but he had found her here.  
By now he was sitting on the roof with the file in his hands. All of the information that he had wanted was in his lap literally. It was a bit big for one person.  
_Probably ended up successful_  
He opened it up and began to read. _This cant be right..._  
The file was saying that she had died by a beating.  
_Someone hurt her? Someone beat her? They must have a death wish and if they don't, they will by the time I'm through with 'em._  
That explained why there were extra documents in her folder. Her will. Her Death Certificate..._Hello.  
_The Joker pulled out another birth certificate from the file and began to examine it.  
**25****th**** October 1995 Joey Brazen Napier  
**  
_I have a nephew? She had a kid? What the-?  
_  
The Joker pulled out another file. This one had a picture of a young blue eyed boy paper clipped on the front. He had messy brown hair and the picture seemed to be a school one. The boy was smiling but his eyes didn't show any sign of happiness.  
_I wonder if he remembers her?_  
He looked down at the school that he was currently attending.

He was going to get to this kid at all costs.

**To fast? To slow? Review people and I will send you Joker coat!  
XD**


	2. Boxes and Bullies

**Note: When Joey walked to school in the last chapter he walked with Chloe since he met up with her half way...and they are not dating...not unless you leave a review or something;)**

**Any-who thank you for your alerts, favorites and Reviews!**

**So please remember to Review again! And you might get a taster of the next chapter or something nice...it's a surprise really:)**

The Joker had risen early that morning after he had spent the night trying to deal with the loss of his sister and recruiting new goons along with trying to find a new hideout.

He was now sitting in the drivers seat of his van and speeding away towards his nephews high school.  
His own memories of his education days were bleak. Part of him that had held that protective streak for Joey's mother now held a streak for the boy himself, and he hoped that Joey wouldn't have such a bad time in school. Then again why should he care? He was probably going to end up taking and breaking the boy anyway.

He parked a block away from the school and looked out of the windows. Students were walking to school and parents and old people were out gardening since the sun had decided to grace Gotham with is presence.

The Joker couldn't help but think of his own teenage years.  
They had been abusive, that he could not deny. But it did have it's good times...or people anyway...

_

* * *

_

_Flashback_

_Jack Napier was sixteen years of age and even though his home background had its troubles, his brown eyes had a spark of amusement in them._

_Grace, his friend of over twelve years was telling him her opinions on the football team again and adding her own sound affects and voices. She always kept him entertained and laughing and she was very nice to his sister Angela. Grace treated her as if she were her sister._

_"And that is why those idiots should all be in kindergarten" finished Grace.__  
_

_"Interesting" said Jack.  
_

"_Well if it isn't Jackie boy!" exclaimed a voice from behind him._

__

Jack knew exactly who this was, he knew that voice from anywhere. He turned around slowly, looking at the ground the entire time.  
"Mouth" he said knowingly to the person in front of him and raising his eyes from the ground for a second before being punched full force in the jaw.  
The boy that had thrown the punch was dark haired with gray eyes. The boy beside him was pure blonde with light green eyes, and you could tell by first glance that he wasn't the sharpest spoon in the shed. Stinger.  
Oh great, thought Jack, holding a hand to his now bleeding nose.

"What's wrong man?Are you okay?" asked Stinger with fake worry in his voice.

"_Leave him alone!" shouted Grace, but she was being held back by some of the other boys. She struggled and struggled but it was no use. And in her mind she vowed that if she were to have a child, they would be raised to fight this type of thing._

_Jack started to stand up but Stinger knocked him to the ground again with a sharp upper cut._

_Blood spewed from of Jacks mouth as he hit the ground again. He could hear Grace screaming in the background.  
The boys around him began to kick him very hard and spit on him. The boy on the ground tried to shield his head and curled up. Each kick was agony and each breath was torture._

_When the boys got bored they just said "This pussy is boring" and walked away, leaving the broken teenager lying and the ground bloody and beaten._

"_Jack!" cried Grace as she ran over to him. She knelt beside him and rested his head in her lap. "Something has to be done" she said, mostly to herself.  
Jack just gave a moan in response._

_Purple was beginning to form around his eye and his face was covered in blood._

"_Come on" said Grace, trying to get herself and her friend to stand up._

_She put Jacks arm around her shoulders and began to walk him to the caretakers shed. She refused to believe in the nonsense stories. How can someone die from that furnace? I mean how can anyone fit in it?, she thought to herself as she half dragged her friend to cover from the bullies._

_Once inside, she put him sitting on one of the boxes and said "I will be right back, don't move"_

_Jack left out a feeble laugh and mumbled "How can I?"_

_Grace frowned and left._

_She came back later with her bag a bit more full from what it had been that morning._

"_Okay lets exam the damage" she said in a sorrowful voice and kneeling down in front of him. She gently put her hand to his face and moved it to one side, examining it._

_He flinched at first but let her look him._

_Grace spent the next while cleaning her friend up with alcohol wipes and water. She had to bandage his arm and stop his nose from bleeding too. When she had finished she made him drink a bottle of water and pulled one out for herself._

"_You should head to class" Jack pointed out as they heard the class bell sound again._

"_Nah, I'm sure I can skip another day" said Grace with a smile._

"_I hope it's not for me"  
"Don't worry, relax"_

"_What about Angela?"_

"_I'll bring her to my place if you want?" offered Grace, forever trying to help him._

"_Thanks...when my parents see this...I don't want her to be caught in the crossfire, you know?"_

"_Yeah" said Grace in a weak voice._

_She knew all about what Jack and his sister had to cope with. She was the only one outside their house that knew, really. When they had first met she had seen the new bruises forming on his arms and how he would flinch if she touched him. Until finally he came to school with a black eye. Grace demanded the truth and when she got pushy, she REALLY got pushy. But Jack trusted her and she had kept the secret this long._

"_Thanks...I could use someone like you at home" he joked.  
Grace knew that he covered his negative emotions with humor and it sometimes worried her. In face everything worried her! The scars that his parents were inflicting upon him and his sister, the humor, how he wouldn't be able to pay attention sometimes in school. She wanted to protect him. It was a motherly instinct that was already over powering her._

"_You take Angela and I'll follow you over to your house later okay?" Jack said.  
"Sure"__  
"And here" he added handing his phone over "Text her to say the she will be going to your place after school"_

_Grace took the phone and began to text._

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Yes. His teenager years had been horrific. _And they say that your teen years are meant to __be the best of your life_ the Joker thought with a scoff.

At that moment he saw a brunette boy walking past the van with a red a haired girl.

_Bingo_

The Clown Prince watched his nephew walk up the street and talk to his friend. He also noticed that the girl looked vaguely familiar but refused to believe it.

Today he wasn't wearing any of his trademark face-paint and instead wore a hat with a scarf.

_Haha take the F out of scarf and you figure out what I'm trying to cover up_, he thought and smiled under the scarf.

He got out of the van and began to follow the two minors.

When he reached the school wall he stopped and looked around. He noticed that it was his old school that he was standing in front of. Memories flooded back and he pushed them aside when he noticed Joey and his friend going their separate ways. A few minutes after the girl had disappeared two boys walked up to Joey.  
He saw the whole thing happen, one of the boys (both oddly familiar) pulling him into the shed.

The shed.

_No. I will not think about any of that!_ The Joker argued with himself.

He followed the children to the shed and hid near an old tree that was beside the old dilapidated building. He peaked in through the dirty window and made out the figures of the two bullies and his terrified nephew.

_Nephew_ he thought, still trying to come to terms with it.

He peaked again and this time he noticed the red haired girl from earlier hiding behind the wall of boxes. Her hand was covering her mouth and she seemed to be speaking, In a low voice by the way that her eyebrows furrowed.  
Whatever she was saying was scaring the two bullies away and the man with the scarf couldn't help but smile at this young girl. She was saving Joey from a beating and using her brains to do that,which in the Joker opinion,was a rare thing these days.

The boys ran out the door and left Joey standing their looking at them with terrified eyes He then turned to face the boxes with wide eyes.

The red haired girl started to walk into view and ended up standing right in front of Joey which blocked the Jokers view of him.

He growled in response and went to the next window, still trying to keep out of view.

* * *

The Joker had been waiting for over an hour. He had played with his knives and guns while waiting. He was now playing with his cards when he noticed two figures heading towards the shed. He took a closer look and upon closer inspection he noticed that it was the girl from earlier and Joey, who was bleeding and a bit weak.

He watched as they stood in front of the shack and headed towards the corner of the building to get a good look, while still trying to stay out of view.

The girl seemed to be trying to say something which began to piss Joey off but she agreed with whatever he was saying. She left him soon after and Joey sat down on the same box that he had sat on all those years ago.

Now was the time.

The Joker crept in through a side door to the place and ended up behind the boxes. He was about the creep over and get another look at Joey but accidentally tripped on something that made him walk into the boxes and swear loudly.  
There was no way that Joey DIDN'T Notice that so the Joker decided that now was the time to confront his nephew.

He walked forward and looked at the frightened boy straight in the eyes.

"Oh my God" the boy breathed.

"Don't ...uh...tell me tha**t** you honestly...uh...believe in him after a**ll** that you...eh...have been through"

"What?" asked Joey.

"Hm...whats wron**g**?Orphanages make your IQ dro**p**?"the Joker teased with a smile.

"How do you know that?" asked Joey taking a step back.

"You wanna get rid of those bullies?" the man in purple pressed.

This caught Joey short. How did he know these things? Then again he DID want the others to be cut from the picture permanently.  
"I DON'T KNOW! Joey roared. He didn't know how are why he did. He just did it. He quickly ran out the door and left the Joker laughing.

He pushed his legs further and further. His breath was coming jaggedly and each breath was like fire. He needed rest but he refused to since he didn't want the clown to catch up with him. He didn't know where he was going but when he finally stopped a few minutes later he looked around and noticed that he was in front of Chloe's house.

He knew that she wasn't there yet but he rang the bell regardless. Chloe's mother was a very nice person, especially to Joey. She was like the mother that he had always wanted and also knew that if Chloe's mother could, she would adopt him but Chloe's mother didn't have a lot of money and knew that she couldn't afford to have him living with them.  
She opened the door and stared at the panting boy in front of her before quickly ushering him inside. She looked up and down the street before shutting the door closed behind her.

"Joey what's wrong? Why aren't you in school? Where's Chloe?" began Grace. She stopped when she took in Joeys cuts and heavy panting. "Come into the kitchen"

She wet a cloth and went to put it on Joey's head but he refused."No it's nothing" he said.

"Joey it could need stitches, I need to check" she scolded. Joey let her work until she finally asked the question that he had been hoping to avoid was asked.

"How did this happen J?" asked Grace with sympathy.  
"Bullies but Chloe took care of them so you might be called to the school later but I was hiding-"

Grace interrupted him by saying "Did they follow you? Thank God Chloe was there. What did they do?"

Joey decided to ignore her questions and resumed his sentence, since she would find out later. "in the shed but then I saw a few boxes fall over and heard someone and then they walked out..it...was the..." he couldn't finished. Would she think that he was insane? What would she do? Would she even believe him?

"What? Who was it? Joey please you have got to tell me" she begged, kneeling down and coming up to his eye level.

"The Joker" Joey replied looking down at his shoes.

Grace kneeled there in silence for a few minutes until finally the phone rang.

Joey remained seated and faintly heard Graces voice drifting from the hallway.

"Hello...Yes,speaking...What happened?...Okay would it be okay if I could come down about five?...Of course...Thank you...Bye now"

Grace came back into the kitchen and looked at Joey.

"That was the school" she said "Chloe is in the office, have to go to the school later"  
She then took a seat at the table across from Joey,

"Now, I think we need to have a talk"

Joey turned around in his chair so he was facing the woman properly.

**Well there you go!  
And I have been getting hardly any reviews so please Review you have no idea how much it helps!  
So what will happen now do you think? Review and find out! You might get a surprise if you do...**


	3. Jerks named Jonathan

**Woo new chapter. I wrote most of it at 6:30am before I went to school but I have my holidays now so you might be getting faster updates and stuff...its depends on your reviews;)  
So...enjoy! And review!**

Joey looked at Grace expectantly.  
"I don't necessarily know how to tell you this" she said with a weak smile. She looked down at her fidgeting hands.  
"So just tell me...I have a right to know" Joey pointed out, caught between impatience and trying to be nice to the woman in front of him.

"Okay...when I was Chloe's age I had a friend...named Jack"  
"Go on" pressed Joey. Grace never really spoke of her school years like this and the way she spoke now seemed very important.

"Napier" Grace said.

"My dad?" asked Joey in surprise.

"No no God no" Grace answered hastily.

"Is he still alive?"

"You've seen him before, but let me finish..one second" Grace said before leaving the table.

She came back a few minutes later holding a picture in her hand.  
"He was my best friend" she said as she sat down near Joey. "He was bullied quiet a bit, but he was a lovely person and he was VERY loyal and protective of his sister"

Grace passed the picture to Joey. He looked down at it and saw a girl that looked like Chloe but a little bit differently. She was smiling and her eyes were sparkling. She had her arms wrapped around a boy around his age but he had big brown eyes and fair hair. They both looked happy.

"Did you date each other?" Joey asked, still clueless.  
"Oh heavens no" Grace laughed, taking the picture back and looking down at it again. Joey could faintly see her eyes tearing up. "We were best friends and nothing more" she said briskly and put the picture down as if she were rediscovering a past rejection.

"So what about him?" asked Joey getting to the point.

"Like I said I don't know how to tell you"

"And?"

"I'm your godmother, I knew your mother, Jack's sister" Grace said gently.  
"Is that why you were always nice to me?"

"No. I would have treated you the same anyway. You are Chloe's friend"

"So what happened, why did my mother give me up? What happened to Jack since he seems to be a key plot to this story"

Grace held her breath and began."When Jack left school things didn't really change...no...that's not how I should begin" Grace mused to herself.

"How about the start" suggested Joey, putting a hand under his chin.

"When Jack and his sister-"

"What was her name?" interrupted Joey.

"Angela...now as I was saying. When Jack and Angela were growing up they had to cope with a lot of things from their parents"Grace tried to say.

"They were abused" Joey said bluntly. He made it look as if it didn't affect him but it did, he knew what it was like since one of his past families had been abusive.

"Yes dear, they were" Grace replied in a sad yet sympathetic voice.

"I was the only one that knew, and the bullying didn't help either" she continued. "One day I wasn't their to protect him and the bullies had knives. They cut his face after they saw the scars of his parents. They said that he must of done it to himself and that they should help him become a freak. He wasn't the same after it. He became more violent and vengeful. The bullies that had tormented him mysteriously died after the knife incident. Some caught fire, some drowned, others were mauled by animal attacks. None of this phased Jack, in fact he always smiled, without the scars-"

"Smiling scars?" Joey interrupted in a small voice, his eyes wide in realization.  
"Yes darling" Grace said in agreement with his mind and took hold of his hand with a sympathetic smile on her face. Her eyes looked a bit watery and Joey could tell that she was trying very hard to fight them off.  
"What about my mom?" asked Joey trying to get on a better topic and help Grace from not crying. But his life was nothing but bad topics, he was happy that he had Grace though.  
"After Jack was sent away to...Arkham" Grace still had trouble saying that to this day "Your mother had no one to look out for her as well as her brother, at first she was a wreck, their parents were dead by then, but then she met Jonathan and for the first time in a very long time she was...happy"  
"Is that my dad's name? Jonathan?" Joey asked.  
"Yes"  
Joey had originally thought that his father would have a common name like Tom or Mike. But this name had never crossed his mind, on second hand it is familiar, Joey thought.  
"Your mother stayed with him for years but they never got married,they didn't have much money and Jonathan was studying medicine and psychology. They had you but less then a year later your mother was found on the kitchen floor and your father couldn't be found until later since he said that he had been away on a trip. The post mortem said that she had been beaten for a while but her cause of death was a blow to the head with the frying pan. They suspected your father but they had nothing to charge him with. You were just a baby, alone, and crying for your mother, starving in your crib." Grace said, her tears finally starting to spill over.  
"So what? My father didn't want me?" asked Joey with evident pain in his voice.  
"He said that he couldn't manage and that you would be happier.  
"Look where I am, does this look happy to you? Sixteen years on and I'm still in that God forsaken orphanage! I'm tormented every day with bullies! I can barely leave to go to school in the morning! And I am being brought up, not knowing anything" Joey half yelled.  
Grace just stared at him with tears flowing silently from her eyes. This time Joey said " One second" and left the room.  
He came back a second later with a tissue and handed it to Grace.  
"So my mom's brother, my uncle is..."  
"The Joker, yes it's true"  
"But I saw him in the school shed! What will I do if I see him again?" asked Joey. This conversation was turning into a game of poker. It was Joey's turn to go into hysterics while Grace sobbed while Joey had wanted to sob when he was hearing about his mother. Emotions were constantly being shuffled around and played.  
"I don't think that he will hurt you, even if you look like your father you are still Angela's child" Grace said finally.  
"I better get to school now and face my daughters crimes" she added, sounding just like Chloe.  
Joey gave a small laugh and smirked in response "Okay"  
"You can spend the night here if you want" Grace offered while standing up and joked "No funny business though, I'm finding this god mother thing hard enough as it is so I don't think that I could trust myself being a grandparent, this young especially."  
"No thanks, I'm fine, I'll just go home and do...stuff. Will Chloe be in school tomorrow?"  
"I will make sure of it"Grace winked.  
Joey gave her a small wave and walked out of the kitchen into the hallway. He looked back to Grace when he reached the front door. She had stopped crying now.  
"Thank you,Aunty Grace" he said, testing out the name. He thought that it fitted well and with that he opened the door and stepped outside.  
"Bye Joey, be safe and don't feel like a stranger you can come here any time you like!" called Grace as Joey walked down the garden path towards the gate.  
"Thanks, bye!" shouted back the blue eyed teen and he was gone.  
_The school shed _thought Grace.

Joey walked down the street. It was silent as the grave but he didn't take any notice since he was listening to his iPod again. There was a light breeze which caused the leaves to dance across the pavement and rustle in the trees.  
Joey kept his head down as usual and paced down the street.  
He was the Jokers nephew. His mother was dead and his father was a jerk named Jonathon which he was also meant to look like. These thoughts flocked Joeys mind. _Brilliant_  
His IPod was turned up so loud he didn't hear the van driving up behind him but he certainly felt the jerk on his jacket and him being picked up. He began to struggle but it was no use. He was put into a blindfold while he was being picked up and moved around.  
Eventually the blindfold was removed and he saw a face that he really didn't want to see again.

**Woo! Two updates in one week! Did you like this chapter? I will never know unless you review! I might not be able to fix the things that you don't like either. I like writing for a boy instead of a girl for once. I get to release my inner tom-boy haha.  
Review!...Please-see I asked nicely;)**


	4. Deals and Dreams

**Sorry about the LONG update but I have NO reviews apart from friends! Come on! You guys add this story to alert and favourite it but PLEASE REVIEW!**

**I might even send you guys some tasters if you do;)**

**EnjoyXD**

He looked as if he had forgotten all about earlier but Joey saw determination in his eyes.  
_He knows_ was all that Joey could think.  
"That was a ...uh... fas**t** exi**t**" the man sitting in front of him remarked.  
"What do you want from me?" Joey asked, getting to the point.  
"Well that was blun**t"  
**".." Joey repeated.  
"You know don't you?...ah Grace" the look of reminiscence was clear on his face "So that friend of yours was really her kid huh"  
"All depends, what do you think she told me?"  
"Well I didn't say that she told you anything now did I?"  
Joey was caught up now and he knew that the man in front of him knew that too. The two of them were beating around the bush and they both knew it.  
"What do you want with me" Joey said in a dark voice, grinding his teeth.  
"For...uh...us all to b**e** one big...ah...happy...fami**ly**"  
Joey laughed at this. Everyone in the van gave him an odd look and he laughed harder. He laughed and laughed until his ribs ached and eventually came to an abrupt halt and became serious.

"I have been beaten, set on fire, pushed around, and bullied for as long as I can remember and now you wanna be my family?" Of all people...this is SO not my day, thought Joey.

"Sure but...uh...nothing**s** official" the man in front of him said as if this were an awkward situation for him and he wanted to make that clear.

"So why am I here?"

"Becau**se** I can help yo**u**" the Joker replied dragging out the 'u'.

"You. Help me" Joey repeated in disbelief.

"Listen...I...ah...know that it's like, erh...being pushed around like that...ya see, you need to fight back and...uh...cause some disorder...shakes things up a bit...shake THEM up a bit" he finished licking his lips. When he spoke of 'shaking' it was as if he had grabbed something in mid air and was trying to shake it himself. "But I can hel**p **you...I can show you how to...surv**ive**...it's...a...uh...rough place out the**re**"

Joey crossed his arms and stared at the ground to think. This guy was meant to be his uncle but he was also one of the most wanted men in Gotham. Wouldn't that make him know more about survival though, with all of those times that he escaped Arkham? It was wrong and Joey knew that but he was sick and tired of being pushed around.

"Fine" he forced himself to say.

"A nice famil**y**...uh...activity" and with that the man in purple sealed the deal by outstretching his hand. Joey made the deal with the devil and shook the hand of the Clown Prince of Crime. "I will come to you so stick around, you might see some...uh... firewo**rks" **and with that there was a sound of a door opening and the Joker pushed the boy backwards.  
For the second time that day Joey hit his head, but this time it was from the pavement. He heard faint laughter fading into the distance and stood up, placing his hand on his head. He stared at the vehicle as it drove off and made a sharp turn around the corner.  
Joey was left standing in complete awe.  
He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was standing on the sidewalk. The street was lined with trees and the sky was an orange colour moulding with a dusky pink. The young boy sighed and began his trek back to his 'home'.  
As he walked he couldn't help the thoughts swarming around in his head. _I woke up this morning as a normal..._Joey stopped walking and shook his head and began to walk again _as normal as I can be...and I go to school only to get bullied and beaten again, as usual. Then I find out about my real mother, who is dead because of my father, and also that the Joker, the most wanted criminal in Gotham, is MY uncle...this is not my day._ From there he began to think of Grace and the Joker knowing her as a kid like him. He also tried to compare him to the boy in the picture that he had seen. Jack. _I bet that no one knows his REAL name except for me and Grace._ That thought terrified Joey. After what he had said in the van, and how the Joker had mentioned Chloe. They could be in danger. _But Chloe is a tough cookie and the woman that raised her to be like that will be with her, and not only that but she also knows the Joker, she might even be able to push the right buttons that could guarantee their survival._

Joey decided that Grace, his now known godmother, and her daughter would be safe. They were strong while they were away from each other, so together they should be unstoppable.  
He came across his 'home' a few minutes later. It was a big red brick building that had vines clinging to the walls. Any optimistic person would find it homey. But pessimists, like Joey, saw it as a prison, or worse, hell.

He didn't have his bag like he did when he was leaving this morning and he didn't care. He just walked in without announcing his return and began to trudge upstairs to his room. He didn't want attention or questions. He just wanted peace and quiet. He walked into his room and closed the door before walking over to his bed and flopping down. He began to close his eyes until there was a knock on the door. He groaned and rolled over to sit up while the person that had knocked began to open the door and enter. A little girl with blonde hair skipped into the room. "Joey!" she cried and ran up to him to throw her little arms around him.

"How was school?" she asked, jumping up onto the bed and taking a seat beside the brown haired boy.

"Great" he responded with a fake happy voice "what about you kiddo?"

"Miss, is trying to teach us about taking away and I hate it! It's too hard!" the little girl said looking at her feet that were dangling over the side of the bed.

"Besides that, how was school" Joey quizzed, trying to move onto a happier topic.

"Gwen came back today! And she brought back presents! She gave me a pencil with 'Italy' written on it and this bracelet" the girl replied happily. She raised her arm and revealed an orange and red wooden beaded bracelet".

"Pretty" Joey remarked for the child's benefit.

"Did you see Chloe today?" the child asked, trying to move the conversation subject to him.

"Yes. We walked to school together and we had history together" Joey said nonchalantly.

"Joey and Chloe up a tree!" the blonde began to sing and jump off the bed before Joey could catch her.

"Mel" Joey said disapprovingly.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G" the girl known as Mel continued.

Joey began to go red in the face from anger and embarrassment. After everything that he had been through today, he really didn't need this. The little girl saw his face and began to look scared so she ran out of the room as fast as her little legs could take her.

"5 year olds" Joey scoffed.

He lay back on his bed once again and closed his eyes. His breathing began to deepen and he was asleep in no time.

_Dream_

_A woman was feeding a baby. She was smiling as she did so._

"_Here comes the choo choo train "she declared. The baby gurgled in delight and opened his mouth to accept the food on the fork._

_There was a loud slamming noise and the mother looked up. She stared at something behind the baby and a look of terror washed over her. The woman had dark auburn hair which was tied up in a messy ponytail and her big chocolate brown eyes were wide with terror. She looked down at the baby in front of her and quickly picked him up and walked into a small bedroom. She put the little child in a cot and hurriedly left the room to face whatever was out there that had her so worried. The door was open halfway way so the baby that was sitting up in the cot could see everything._

_The mother walked out to see her husband who had just come in and was finding it hard to stand since he seemed to be drunk. _

"_You spent the money" he began to slur with a look of complete rage on his face._

_The mother couldn't look at her husband, especially when he was like this. He was drunk and she had to spend that money since the baby in the next room was in dire need of new clothes. She hadn't spent a penny on herself. They were living in poverty. They were living in a rundown street! Her husband was in college and she was left at home slaving away. They were scraping by with every penny they got and they had a child that they needed to care for. If only Jack were here, the woman thought._

"_We were SAVING THAT UP!" the drunk began to shout._

"_FOR WHAT?" the woman screamed back. "HE NEEDS THINGS! WE NEED THINGS! THE REFRIDGERATOR BARELY WORKS! AND YOU ARE BARELY HOME, WITH YOUR STUDY SESSIONS AND GOING TO THE BAR AND DRINKING THE MONEY THAT WE NEED!"_

"_I NEED TO STUDY SO I CAN GET A GOOD JOB TO GET MORE MONEY!" the drunk yelled in response to her. He ran his hands through his hair._

"_We need to change" Angela began to sob. She turned around and began to pick up clothes from the couch._

"_What are you doing?" Jonathan slurred in a tired voice._

"_Leaving. When you decide that your family is important we can talk and work these problems out but until then I can't stay here." The brown eyed woman began to cry._

"_No" the drunken man said as if they had been through this for the millionth time, as he reached for the things in Angela's hands. She dodged him and went to walk away but he caught her and grabbed her by the shoulders._

_The baby in the room that was watching didn't understand what was going on so he giggled at his parents, thinking that they were playing a game. He gurgled and pounded his little fists off of his cot._

"_NO. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LEAVE ME!" the blue eyed man shouted in his wife's face._

"_LET GO OF ME!" she screamed back with tears in her eyes. They were flowing freely down her face by now._

_Unsurprisingly to the sobbing woman, the man that was holding her raised his hand and brought it down hard across her face._

_The baby in the other room stopped giggling and instead took hold of the bars in his cot and tried to stand up to get a better look._

_By now Jonathan had gotten Angela on the ground and was kicking her in every available area. He beat her, hit chairs off of her, whacked her head off of the wall and eventually left her there, a bleeding and broken mess, on the floor as he walked out._

_The room fell silent. The baby stared at his mother on the floor who wasn't moving and began to cry for her attention but she still wouldn't move. The cot wasn't that big since he had outgrown it so he tried to climb over the railing. He put his little legs over and landed on the ground with a thump. He wasn't crying now though, instead he was padding over to his mother with a curious look on his one year old face._

_She was lying in a puddle of her own blood. The baby boy still padded over to his mother until he finally sat down by her head. Her face was covered in blood and her eyes were closed. Her lip was split open and her nose was freely bleeding. She also had a bit of purple forming around her right eye which was beginning to swell._

"_Mama" the baby said as he hit her in the shoulder, trying to get her attention._

_If his mother were conscious when he said that, she would have smiled at him and asked him to say it again and again. It would have made her day and it would have washed away all thoughts about their lack of money and the abuse that her husband gave her._

_It was his first word and she had missed it_

_It had only taken him until now to speak since he was a very quite child and his mother couldn't blame him because of all the things that he had been forced to witness at home._

_There he sat in a puddle of his mother's blood, a mother that would never talk or sing to him again, she would never be at his graduation or watch him get married, never see him off on his first date or tell him about the tooth fairy when he lost his first tooth. She had even missed his first word even though she had loved him more than life itself._

_Eventually the cops arrived a while later after one of the neighbours had called in a noise complaint. They found a baby sitting in a pool of blood beside a woman that had sacrificed herself for her baby boy. _

_That image haunted every cop on that 'call out' ever since._

_End of Dream_

Joey awoke with a start and instantly sat up in bed. He was after breaking out in a cold sweat and he panted, trying to regain his breath.

He had accidently fallen asleep. His first thought was to go to Grace but abandoned the thought after looking at his bedside clock and finding out that it was 4:30 in the morning. The sky was beginning to brighten outside. Joey looked around and decided that it would be best if he got up.

He quietly out of bed, careful not to wake anyone, and went over to his dresser to pull out some clothes. He then opened his bedroom door and peered into the hallway in case anyone else was up. When he saw that the coast was clear he walked to the bathroom and locked the door behind him to have a shower.

When he had finished and gotten dressed he brushed his teeth and went through normal morning necessities. He then went to his room and put his laundry into a hamper that was lying in the corner of his room. The orphanage wasn't as big as others; it was more of a home. Only a handful of orphans lived here and they each had a laundry day. On Tuesdays Laura would ask him for his hamper and take it away to wash, dry and iron his laundry.

He then went downstairs to the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot while taking out the toaster. He began to make himself breakfast which he only did on weekends and holidays, with the exception of meeting Chloe at her house for school and Grace forcing him to eat.

While he began to cut a brick of cheese his thoughts began to wander to her and he accidently cut himself. He quickly ran to the sink and examined his finger. There was a gaping wound and blood was gushing out of his index finger. He ran it under the tap and wrapped a tea-towel around it as he began to look for the first aid kit.

He found it in the cupboard under the sink and began to tend to his finger. Five minutes later he was bandaged up and he returned to his breakfast.

Grilled cheese on toast was his favourite so he put the cheese that he had cut, and thankfully not gotten and blood on, onto the toast which had just popped. He left them in the microwave for a few minutes and went to get a cup out of another cupboard for his coffee. When he placed the cup on the table the coffee was finished so he poured himself a cup and put it back under the machine. He got out a knife and a fork and placed them on the table just has the microwave binged and went over to take it out and place it on the table. After everything was finished he finally sat down and ate some breakfast, thinking about how weird his finger felt now and his dream as he did so. He also thought about what he should say to Grace when someone walked into the room.

**This is the longest that I have ever written for a fiction chapter! What way better to celebrate then to REVIEW!**

**Or I will get my friend after you;)**


	5. Where are the Cameras, GodBrother?

**New chapter! Wow that was fast...for me anyway XD**

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**Thank you to . and Anna for your support and reviews.**

**Review guys! Or this story will be taken down...and no flames !**

**Enjoy!**

**x**

The black and pink haired girl stood in the doorway and leaned against the frame. She looked at Joey intently, which irked him, so he turned back to his breakfast.

This was Laura and she knew that Joey didn't usually eat breakfast. She was very motherly towards all of the orphans but she had a soft spot for Joey, even though she didn't show it.

"I knew I smelled something burning" she remarked from the doorway and crossed her arms.

Joey just pulled an annoyed face at the wall opposite him and finished eating,

"School called yesterday, they said that you left early, left your bag there so you couldn't have planned to ditch, what's going on? And why is there a cut on your head?" Laura asked, trying to get closer to Joey and touch the soft spot where Joey's head had been hit against a wall the day before.

"Did they give you my bag?" Joey asked in a fake curious tone as he stood up and gathered everything together to take to the sink.

"Joey, be serious, tell me what is going on? Are you doing drugs? Are you having trouble paying back the dealers?"

"YOU ALWAYS ASSUME THE WORST!" Joey shouted at her. Laura was taken aback by this since Joey was never a person that would raise their voice.

Joey couldn't take her questions. He wanted to be alone. He was confused and he found her questions just downright annoying.

He stood up and went to leave but Laura stood in the middle of the doorway. She looked down at him and saw something in his eyes that she found very familiar so she let him pass, praying that he would find something to help him.

She was going to question him about his finger but he was already running up the stairs, not caring if he woke up the others.

Once inside his room, he grabbed a bag from under his bed and began to pack as much clothes as possible and found himself pausing halfway through. His mother had done the exact same thing nearly 15 years ago. But 'he' had stopped her and now she wasn't even alive to tell anyone. She was gone. And it was because of that monster that he had to live like this, in an orphanage, with Laura always looking over his shoulder and 5years olds pestering him, not to mention the school bullies.

Well the 5year old one might have happened anyway if he had been given a little sister and the bully one might have happened anyway too. For an instant, pure hatred flashed through Joey for himself, if his dad went to college and Joey was getting straight A's then both people must be smart. And by the looks of the dream, Joey already looked like his dad, which disturbed him to no end.

He closed his bag and threw it on his bed as he put on his jacket and got his phone, IPod and money and put them into his pockets.

Some of the orphans here got pocket money to feel like other kids, others got child benefits and others worked in summer jobs. Luckily Joey had been all of the above so he had gotten his laptop and phone and put away the rest, with some extra to keep around for little things and emergencies.

He swung his bag over his shoulder and picked up his keys while walking out of the room. He walked down the stairs quickly and was out the door before Laura could say anything.

He knew where he was going.

Grace.

She was the only one that he could turn to and he knew that she would never judge him. He also knew that she would open the door at this hour in the morning for him.

He began to walk down the street to his godmother's house and turned on his IPod. He was halfway to his destination when he spotted Shocker and Talko a few yards away. They seemed to be tee-peeing a house, which had already been egged.

Typical, thought Joey as he hid behind a parked car and he rolled his eyes.

He would have to take the long way. Joey looked around to make sure that no one else was around before he dashed across the street as quietly as possible, and into a narrow gap between a hedge and a house. It was one of the back roads that Joey had learned about from Chloe when they were eight and it had stuck with him ever since.

Ten minutes later, Joey was standing in front of Chloe's back door and knocking. There was a sound of shuffling in the kitchen before the door was finally wrenched open by a tired looking Grace. She looked very gaunt and pale, and her eyes her were sunken into their sockets. She looked ten years older than what she was.

"Joey" she sighed in a tired yet happy voice. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Laura was asking questions and I just couldn't take it anymore...and I saw 'him' again on the way home and I think I had a flashback about my mom and..." he couldn't finish that sentence. He was confused and a mess so he did what anyone else would do, whether they were a man or not. He cried and fell into Grace's arms.

"Come one in honey, I'm sure that everything will be fine" was all that she could say before leading him inside.

The clock by the door said that it was 6:00 and the morning dawn was beginning to shine in through the windows.

"Sit down and tell me everything" said Grace taking a seat at table, just as she had done the day before.

"I just had to get away, Laura is asking about school and stuff. She thinks I'm doing drugs" Joey replied, letting out a dry laugh at the end.

"And you saw Jack again?"

Joey knew that Grace still thought of the Joker's good side by the way she referred to him by his real name, even though he had blown up a hospital and nearly killed two boats full of people. Grace was simply just...that kind of forgiving and optimistic person.

"On my way home yesterday he caught me and put me in his van. He knows that I know everything. And he mentioned you. I think that he knows that you told me. And he said something about seeing Chloe. He said something about helping me to get rid of the bullies at school and it being some sort of 'family activity'" Joey rushed, using his fingers as quotation marks for the words 'family activity'.

"And? What did you say?"

"I said 'yes', and then he pushed me out of his van" the boy rushed the last bit, in hope that Grace wouldn't catch on to the part where he had agreed to help his uncle who was also the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Joey" Grace said sceptically.

"I'm sorry but they have to go! I'm tired of always looking behind me and I don't want to do that for the rest of my life" Joey didn't know whether to cry or yell at this stage. He didn't want to be judged, he just wanted someone to tell him that it would all be okay.

Grace must have seen this in his eyes because before Joey knew it, she was kneeling beside him, in her tired state and hugging him. "Things will work out, he isn't going to hurt you, he can't" she began to say into his ear.

"Now" she said when things had finally calmed down. "What was this dream you had?"

"Did my mom have auburn hair and brown eyes?"

Grace gaped at Joey before starting to cry herself.

"Yes" she nodded.

"I was a baby and my mother was feeding me but dad came in and she got scared so she put me down in my room and went to dad. They had a fight and he was drunk. He beat her and left when she was on the floor and I came out to her. There was blood everywhere and she wasn't moving" Joey began to cry after this. He couldn't help the images come to mind of his mother lying there.

"You can stay here if you like" Grace offered.

"What about Chloe?"

"She will find out in her own time, you know how she can be when she is not being kept in the loop" Grace said with a smile and looked intently at Joey. "You look like him, but remember that you are NOT him, you hear that?... now go up stairs, you know where the guest room is"

Without a moment's hesitation Joey was walking up stairs with his bag and heading to bed where he would get some sleep before being rudely awoken.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Chloe screamed in disbelief. Before Joey had a chance to look at his awakener, Chloe had jumped onto the bed, causing Joey to nearly fall off the bed. He let out a roar in response to his shock and Chloe laughed.

"So whatcha doin' here?" she asked quizzically, looking down at Joey who barely turned around to look at his red haired friend.

"Ran off" he muttered nonchalantly.

"Because?"

"Cause Laura was starting to piss me of"

"She pissed you off before and you didn't leave"

"Well I just had enough after that thing with the bullies yesterday" Joey responded trying to keep his patience.

"Yes, but-"

"I'M JUST TIRED OKAY?" Joey said a little too loudly.

Chloe knew that something was going on. She saw how Joey had been acting weird and she had caught her mother randomly crying a few times and oddly blacking out when she was trying to talk to her. She had been noticing these little things and she wanted to know what the hell was going on. She was only looking out for the best interests of her mother and best friend but it agitated her that no one would fill her in and keep her up to date with all that was going on.

"Fine then, be like that Grumpels" and with that she got off the bed and left without a word, but not without throwing him a dirty look first.

Joey didn't pay any mind to her and instead sat up and looked around before getting up and going to the bathroom.

A few minutes later he was walking down the stairs when he stopped short after hearing Chloe's voice in an angry tone.

"What are you not telling me mother?"

Joey quietly sniggered to himself. The way she had said that reminded him of Nancy from 'Nightmare on Elm Street'. He had watched it years ago with Chloe when Grace was out with some friends and while Chloe was hiding behind the couch, Joey had been laughing.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Grace said, making it obvious that she was lying.

"You know full well"

"I-"

"YOU DO! I KNOW THAT YOU DO!" Chloe screamed at her mother. Joey could hear the frustration in her voice.

He couldn't help it. He didn't want Chloe to be feeling like this. She had always been there for him and if he wanted her to be safe, she was better off knowing the truth. So he walked down the rest of the stairs and walked down the hallway to stand in front of the, barely open, kitchen door.

He took in a deep breath and before he could stop himself he walked in and said one word "Joker"

Chloe spun around at the sound of his voice and her jaw dropped. "What the..."

She couldn't finish her sentence. She was dumbstruck. She wondered what the hell he had to do with this. And the one question that she had been asking all day became her number one priority.

_What the hell was going on?_

She sat down without anyone asking her to and stared at Joey. Joey knew that he had to tell her everything now and looked at Grace, who just gave him a sorrowful look in response. He walked over to the sink and leaned against it as he began.

"He's my uncle" he said bluntly, getting straight to the point.

"HA! That's a good one, where are the camera's? Now seriously, what is going on?" Chloe said, brushing off Joey's statement as a joke.

He couldn't help but smile at the irony.

"He is telling you the truth honey. I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to protect you." Grace began to sob. "I'm his godmother"

"Then why didn't you adopt him, if this is true"

"On my salary? I can't even buy you a new phone"

Joey watched Grace as she pleaded with her daughter. She had wanted to protect her child and it pained her to tell her daughter everything, even if it was dangerous. She reminded Joey of his mother and he was certain that if it came to it, Grace would take a bullet for the teenage girl in front of her.

Chloe simply looked over to Joey with a look of disgust on her face. Joey tensed waiting for the insults to begin.

"And to think that I used to crush on you? And you are like my...god-brother"

"And this has nothing to do with me being related to the most dangerous man in the city that thinks that he is a clown?" Joey asked, amazed at what Chloe had just said. She hadn't thought of the Joker, she was more interested in THEIR ties. He was flattered that she had thought of him like THAT but he was also hurt at the 'God-brother thing'. Was that even a thing?

"What about your mom?" she asked gently, noticing the pained expression on his face while also feeling a bit smug that she had made him feel that way, even if he had no say in his family tree.

The next hour was spent discussing everything to Chloe and her asking a LOT of questions. Grace eventually had to leave to go to work and Chloe said something about 'having to see someone about something' which left Joey on his own in the house. Grace had been kind enough to let him stay and he certainly wasn't going back to Laura.

He decided to investigate some more into his background and went to the laptop sitting on the table in the living room.

It was already turned on. It looked like Chloe had been online this morning before she began to shout at her mother and forgot all about the laptop. Joey didn't mind though. More time was saved.

He automatically went to his favourite search engine and typed in key words like; 'Jonathan, Angela, dead and son'. He clicked 'search' and an old newspaper article popped up. He skimmed through it and caught a few bits on information like how his mother had been adopted at the age of three and how his father's surname was 'Crane'. As soon as he had learned this he searched his dad and a page came up from another newspaper article with a picture of a man in a suit and a relaxed face like that of an 'Employee of the Month' picture and another picture of a man standing in the middle of a street with a sack on his head and a gun in his hand.

Who the hell is my father, thought Joey before delving into a day of information on his biological family.

**Did you like it?**

**Wanna see more Joker?**

**Review and things might...ake a GOOD and more INTERESTING turn ;)**

**Skitz**


	6. Smoothies for a Detonator

**Joey got a new fan art!  
Oh and for anyone that follows my other tdk fic 'He's Coming' there is a Blue Print for Ivy and Eves room.  
All links are on my profile so check them out XD  
Enjoy! And Review ;)**

Joey began to pace Graces living room as soon as he had seen his father on the internet, which had resulted in Joey's mind being plagued by thoughts.

They had started to boil over inside his head so he decided to go out for a while. Grace had left him a spare key for emergencies a while ago so he didn't need to worry about being locked out. He got his jacket and keys, before heading out the door and locking it behind him.

The air was refreshing after the nap this morning and the hours that he had spent in front of the computer, looking for his father. He began to walk slowly done the street. He thought that he would go and get a smoothie or an ice-cream. He just needed a break.

He walked a few blocks until he came to "Gina's Smoothies". It was a medium sized building that looked cosy with its white paint. The interior was very modern. One end of the room there was an open space with couches and sofas, which was mainly used by adults trying to find some peace or college kids. The other end of the room was normal with tables, chairs and benches nailed to the ground by the window.

Joey walked over to the counter, ordered a smoothie and payed for it before sitting down at one of the benches near the window. He briefly looked out the window before staring down at his hands on the table and looked back at everything that had only happened yesterday. He couldn't believe that it had only been yesterday. It seemed longer. He had learned that he was related to one of the most wanted criminals in Gotham and then learned about his parents. Followed by a flashback of the night that his mother was murdered, only to wake up and snap at Laura before running off to Graces house. He sighed.

God, life sucked right now.

He had taken a sip of his drink when the jingle of the door bell sounded throughout the room. Joey didn't take any notice and continued to stare at his hands until a purple smoothie was placed on the table across from him and someone slid into the booth across from him.

He was going to tell the person to 'Get Lost' but when he raised his head he saw a familiar pair or brown eyes. The person across from him was wearing a hat and scarf, which was covering the lower half of the persons face.

"Hell**o**" the person across from him said, dragging out the 'o'.

"Didn't you talk to me yesterday?" Joey retorted.

"I work fas**t**, ya know... you can...uh...be as sassy as you**r** mom when you wan**t** to be" the man across from him pointed out.

"What do you want?"

"Hm, straight to the poin**t** again. I like tha**t**. Ready for out little activity?"

"Are you staying on topic?"

Joey blinked. This guy couldn't be serious. Couldn't he have just picked him up in his van like last time? Joey knew that he must have been watched for the Joker to know where he was. But he hadn't heard a car on the way over here. He was good; Joey had to give him that.

"Course...I'm insulted" the Joker replied with mock hurt.

Joey just scoffed and took another gulp of his drink. The soothing taste of banana sliding down his throat helped him to stay calm since he was currently sitting across from a criminal that everyone was looking for (when they weren't running away from him that is). Joey refused to answer his question so he decided to change the subject himself.

"Wow, you're not wearing purple. I gotta call those world record guys" Joey joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Leave the humour to me" the Joker responded icily.

Yeah cause you are doing a great job with it now, Joey thought.

"Yo**u**...are avoiding my question" the Joker pointed out while literally pointing a finger at his nephew and leaning against the table with his elbows.

"When is it?" the teenage boy questioned. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be part of it and he was still questioning the part of himself that had agreed to this in the first place. If his uncle wanted to discuss this, fine, they would. So Joey decided to use a different approach.

"Monday"

"What time?"

"You will see me, before ev-ery-thing gets set into...Uh... motion"

"Isn't it already?"

"Smart. You have brains kid. That's useful...so...how's...ah...your little friend of a friend hmmm?" the Joker replied after a short silence.

Joey marked him as a person that always needed noise in the background. Someone that would fidget in the silence. He thrived off of chaos.

"Leave her out of this"

"Why?" the man across from him began to chuckle "She is obviously a sharp cookie, brainy too" he added before taking a swig of his own drink. He stared at it oddly before setting it back down again and Joey thought that it was probably because he wasn't used to something as good as a smoothie after all those years in Arkham which led him to think of his father.

"Just don't drag her into this...Grace wouldn't like that" he looked back up into the Jokers face as he said the last bit.

He didn't flinch, not that Joey expected him to, but an emotion flashed in his eyes for a brief second.

"Did you know my dad?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

"And wh**y** would you wan**t **to find him?" the Joker said venomously.

"I don't really think that I want to find him, I just want to know about him"

"He killed you mother"

Joey just gave the man across from him a look, forgetting for a second who he was beneath the hat, scarf and none purple clothes.

"I saw him a couple of times when he was running Arkham but then I got out and people didn't take much notice since they were too busy watching him being caught by Batman and being thrown into his own hospital.

"He ran Arkham?"

"Yeah, didn't make it any better though...rather play with his chemistry set" the Joker said, drinking his smoothie as if it were a beer and he was drinking his sorrows away at a bar.

"And mom?"

"Now there was a swell gal" the man across from him said, instantly brightening up. He looked as if he hadn't been looking at the table darkly just minutes before.

"What was she like?" asked Joey timidly.

"She was great in school. She wasn't popular, since she didn't like the attention but she wasn't at the end of the social ladder like us...and she had brains too"

Joey felt a bit fluttery for a moment. _Like us_ kept fluttering around inside his head. As he pictured his mother his stomach felt as if someone had tied an elastic band around it. But then reality crashed on top of him and he remembered that he was talking to the Clown Prince of Crime and his dad was in an asylum while his mother was six feet under which left him as an orphan. He wanted to ask more about his mother. Where was she buried? What was her favourite color? Her personality. But a cell phone began to ring and Joey looked down to see if it was his. Grace was probably worried.

It turned out to be the Joker's phone. He looked down at a text and smiled before starting to get up. Joey glared at the phone that had broken his 'train of thought' about his mother. His uncle took it the wrong way and just said "I'll be back before you know it" before heading out the door.

Joey looked out the window and watched as he climbed into a van. As the van passed he gave Joey a brief wave and a dark smile, since he had removed the scarf as he had gotten into the van. Joey just stared on in awe and looked back at the table.

He stared at the drink that the man across from him had purchased earlier. Berry, it seemed.

He decided that it was time to leave and stood up to go. He left the smoothies on the table and walked out.

He began his walk back to Graces and listened to the noises around him as he walked. He felt more content with himself. So what if his uncle was a master criminal? So what is his dad was a whack-job? He had his uncle and he was hearing great things about his mom. He had a best friend that had admitted to having a crush on him and he had found his godmother. Life was beginning to look up for Joey and for the first time in years he thought that things could be normal. He was optimistic.

When he walked into Graces house, Chloe attacked him with a rib crushing hug.

"Can't ... breath" Joey gasped and hit Chloe feebly in the back.

"You are okay...thank God"

"Why, what happened?" Joey asked, beginning to get worried.

Chloe said nothing but dragged him into the living room where Grace sat and watched the television. Joey followed her line of vision and noticed that she was watching the news. It seemed to be urgent so he sat down on the couch abruptly and began to watch intently.

_And to review this evenings news. The St Patricks boxing club building has been blown up. So far police don't know who is responsible but fowl play is suspected._

The boxing place. That's where Shocker went on Saturdays to let loose or practise for the following Monday where Joey would be the punch bag. Joey didn't know whether to be happy that there was a chance that Shocker was dead or pissed off that the Joker had gone ahead without him and he didn't get to press the detonator himself.

One thing was for certain.

Joey wanted in.

**Wow! I only started writing this chapter today and I'm finished!  
Remember what I said about the links!  
And (of course) Review!**

*walks of holding chin in intelligent way..."Two updates in one day"

Oh yeah and before I go the "friend of a friend thing" was done on purpose since Grace was the Jokers friend you know?

Skitz;)


	7. Control Is An Illusion

**Wow two updates in two days!  
I'm on a roll!  
Thanks to Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love and LuvIsAThing XD  
thank you!  
Review!**

"You think that he did this?"Chloe asked her mother in a small voice. No one needed to ask who 'he' was.

"I don't know" was all that Grace could say, holding back tears.

Joey stared at the two women in front of him and back at the television, which was now talking about some fight that had broken out during some football game. Apparently it had been one hell of a dirty game.

The thought of pushing the detonator himself came back to Joey and he imagined the feel of the whoosh of the explosion. The adrenaline rush. And for a brief moment he pictured the comedy, of randomly picking up the detonator and saying ""What does this button do? Before pressing it and watching a building blow to smithereens. And his uncle praising him. It was the feeling of finally belonging that Joey loved to imagine the most.

"Dave might have been in the explosion; can you go and make some calls Hun?" Grace asked Chloe with pleading eyes. She didn't want to give her daughter a job like that, to look and see if someone had died but she wanted to talk to Joey and even though her daughter knew what was going on around her now, she wanted some things to be kept only between her and her godson.

Chloe just nodded and left the room silently, before Grace turned around to properly look at Joey.

"Where were you? Did you see him?" she asked with concern flooding her eyes.

"I needed a break, I saw my dad on the internet and it just...I needed to get away for a while and I went to get a smoothie...and then 'he' turned up and began to talk to me"

"Tell me everything"

"He asked if I was ready to help him and said that he was going to go ahead with his plan on Monday" Joey didn't want to tell Grace that he had mentioned Chloe because then he would end up telling her about how an emotion had flickered in his eyes and Grace was barely stable as it was.

"Anything else?"

"Only that he would see me again, before it went ahead" Joey responded truthfully.

"And your father?"

"Ran Arkham, got arrested, he is an inmate there now"

"So what do you want to do now?"

Joey had to admire Grace, after everything that happened so far she still kept her cool and asked Joey his opinion on matters and what HE wanted to do. Usually adults would get hyped up and try to control everything but, like the Joker, Grace thought that control was just an allusion and she thought that everyone was the same.

"I might see him"

"Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you? Bring you to Arkham even, just in case you need an adult with you"

"Okay"

"When do you plan on going?"

"Right away"

"Come on then, Chloe will have to come too, since I don't trust her being home alone with everything that is going on at the moment"

Grace got up and put on her jacket and got her keys while Joey stood up and watched her since he hadn't taken off his jacket when he had walked in. Chloe looked at her mother when she walked into the hallway and put down the phone.

"He wasn't there, thank God. Where are you going?" she asked her eyes wide.

"You are coming too, come one" Grace ushered.

Chloe didn't waste any time with coats and just went outside after Joey. Grace locked the door and went down the pathway to the car. It was a small green ford focus that was very clean, for an old car. The three of them got in and Joey hopped into the front passenger seat. For the first time ever he didn't hear any complaints from Chloe about her not riding shot gun and he couldn't help but smile a bit at this.

They arrived a few minutes later and got out of the car. Grace got out last and locked the door before following the two teenagers inside. The reception area was huge and the place smelled of bleach and disinfectant. There was a big round desk in the corner of the room with a small woman sitting behind it wearing glasses on top of her head as she searched through files. Grace walked up to the distressed woman, probably an intern.

"Excuse me" Grace said in a gentle voice, "Could you tell me where the visiting room is please?"

"Down the hall and to your right"

"Thank you" Grace looked over at Joey and began to walk briskly down the hallway. Joey found it amazing how Chloe had managed to stay quite this long; he imagined that she was only quite now because she was walking around inside the loony bin. She probably thought that if she made a noise a nutter would jump in front of her.

Grace opened the door and walked through, only to be stopped by an orderly that demanded the name of the inmate that they wanted to see, along with her name and details, until he finally asked the question that they had all been thinking of "What was Cranes connection with them". Grace and Chloe looked at Joey when Grace had said that Crane was Joey's father. The orderly just looked at him for a brief second before letting them pass. He had obviously known that they weren't lying to him.

They were led to a row of tables with a glass panel separating the visitors from the inmates and little wooden barriers that gave the visitors their privacy. They were given their own booth and Grace told Joey that she would wait at the other side of the room with Chloe until he was finished. Joey just nodded quietly and turned back to the glass in front of him, which had little holes so that the people could hear each other, and waited for the man that he hadn't seen in almost fifteen years to walk in.

**Will I leave you guys there? Cliff hanger!  
Or...if I'm nice this one time...you guys can give me reviews ;)  
Deal?**

Two minutes later there was a sound of a door slamming and a group of orderlies came into view. They were leading a man with tussled brown hair and a straightjacket over in Joey's direction.

This was Jonathon Crane.

He was walking with his head held high and he radiated confidence. And it was in that moment that Joey decided that he didn't want to play nice.

He was placed in the chair across from Joey and he simply stared at Joey with a calm look upon his face. His eyes said another thing.

"Miss me?" Joey asked sarcastically.

"Joey?" Jonathon asked in disbelief.

Joey left out a dry and humourless laugh. He was beginning to hate this man more and more and couldn't help but give him a dark glare.

"What did she ever do to you?" he asked in a low voice that he didn't know that he was capable of. He was the reason that his world was upside down, that he was an orphan, that his mother was dead, and maybe even the reason that the Joker became the Joker, he still hadn't decided on that bit yet. At this point, Joey would gladly choose the Joker over Crane any day.

"I knew that you would come and find me eventually, I just didn't think that it would be here...or with me ...like this" Crane said, beginning to get a bit uncomfortable now.

"Well you should have thought about that when you were slamming your wife's head against a wall now, shouldn't you" Joey replied with perky sarcasm.

"Those were different times; I'm a changed man now"

"Yeah I know, the straightjacket is kinda obvious"

"You probably came here looking for answers so let me explain"

"Yeah, answers. Not excuses. And questions usually come before answers. Last I checked, you were avoiding mine"

"I don't even remember doing it."

"Bullshit. Drunk people say that they don't remember but they always do."

Crane continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I loved your mother"

The saying _Till Death Do Us Part_ rang throughout Joeys head as he said this. He may have hated the man in front of him but he wasn't going to interrupt again. This was his life that hung in the balance, in a way. Whatever he learned today would either make him or break him.

"We met after your uncle was incarcerated here. She was devastated and she was finding it hard to cope. I saw her at a laundrette, she was having trouble with the machine and she was angry so she was kicking the washing machine, trying to take her anger out on it. The dent is still there I believe. I went to help her and she seemed happy that someone had decided to do so. What can I say...we clicked. A year later we were married and then you came along. You brightened up her world."

"Okay" Joey said in a quiet voice, which made Crane seem a bit more comfortable until Joey's voice turned to that of an acidic one "So please cut the optimistic crap and tell me the proper uncut version...please"

"I wanted to get a better job to make more money and I studied medicine and psychology, we were scraping at the time. What else do you want me to say?"

Joey knew that Crane was being squashed and he knew that Crane knew. This was getting a bit fun.

"So...does this mean that you will be visiting more?" Crane asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know yet" Joey replied, standing up to leave. It was obvious that the isolation was getting to the former shrink.

"But I'm your father" Crane said firmly.

"As far as I know, I have no father" Joey said in a dark and emotionless voice before walking off with Grace and Chloe hot on his heels. He didn't bother to look back at his dad; he just wanted to get out of this place.

They were in the car when the silence between the three of them was finally broken.

"So what happened?" asked Joeys red haired friend with impatience.

"Nothing"

"All that for nothing?"

"YES CHLO ALL FOR NOTHING!"Joey shouted, not caring that her mother was sitting right beside him and using her nickname.

The tension in the car on the way home was unbearable.  
**You guys know what to do...Review!**


	8. Smoothies Don't Work

**I'm sorry! I would have updated sooner but I am now on computer restriction time! Don't worry though it's all cool, but remember I have more than one fic to attend too.  
Also I will be disappearing for the next three weeks! So you might not here from me for a while but I recently updated my story "Who's Your Favourite" so you might be able to entertain yourselves with that or something. But PLEASE review because I will be gone to an ALL-IRISH speaking place and it would be nice to come back and see my inbox overflowing with NICE reviews.  
AND with that, I will leave you guys with the newest chapter of Joey, as by way of an apology XD**

Sunday wasn't much better.

Laura had called to see if Joey was there and Grace had told her that he was, and that he just needed some space. She then began to tell Laura that this was typical teenage behavior and that there was nothing to worry about.

Chloe had stayed in her room for the day, with the exception of toilet breaks and food. She hadn't said a word to anybody but since she was never one to stay silent, Joey suspected that she had began to talk to herself and thought of what Arkham could have done to his red haired buddy.

Grace cleaned.

The adult of the house scrubbed the floors, tiles, cooker, even the walls. Joey asked if she wanted any help since he didn't want to feel like a burden since he was staying here but Grace had declined his offering hand and carried on cleaning. Joey ended up sitting on the counter or at the table while trying to have a conversation with his godmother but it just didn't feel right. He tried to talk about his mother and the past but he couldn't gather any new information. He didn't want to upset Grace either and he had a feeling that she was upset about something anyway; otherwise she might not have been cleaning.

Joey went to his room and flopped down on the bed.

He was tearing this family apart and it was probably the only one that he could say that he belonged to. Chloe was angry and secrets were being kept from her. Grace was an emotional wreck since her childhood friend had been brought back up and she had been forced to visit the man that had killed her best friend. She also had her own child to protect along with Joey, the child of the deceased friend. He was definatly tearing apart the family in his mind.

He wanted to go but he didn't want anyone worrying over his absence so he opened up the window and peered out of it. There was a vine right beside the ledge so he grabbed it and began to use it as a rope, so to make it from the window to the ground. He had never like P.E but he could handle the necessities like running and climbing. Games were what he hated and sucked at, especially when the bullies tackled him or hit him with a hockey stick.

When he made it safely to the ground, he looked around to see if anyone was around. The coast was clear.

He began to run, not knowing where he was going. He ran down the street and through car parks. On and on he went until he came to a park. It wasn't a big park. There were a few swings, a slide, a zip wire and a disc that looked like a roundabout but wasn't.

Joey sat down on one of the swings and mindlessly started to swing back and forth with his feet. He spotted a woman nearby with blonde hair that was pushing a baby on a baby swing. The child seemed to be happy and gurgled a bit.

That could have been me; it might have been once upon a time too, thought Joey bleakly.

He continued to watch the pair for another while until they packed up and left, which left Joey alone in the park. He sighed and leaned his head against the chain that acted as a rope for the swing. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. It was going pretty well until he noticed someone sitting down on the slide next to him. His politeness won out and he turned around to smile at the child that had probably sat down on the swing next to him only to see someone completely different. He had expected it from some part of his mind, but it didn't fail from making his smile leave his face.

The Joker was sitting on the swing opposite him.

He was covered up again, just like last time and he looked at Joey as if he were waiting for him to say something.

"Hi?" said Joey, making it sound like a question.

"I said that I would be seeing you before school, didn't I?"

"Sure. I just guessed that it would be another van snatching and then you would push me out again"

"Do you really think so lowly of me?" The man asked with mock hurt.

"Well you are busy aren't you?"

This little fact from Joey had started off a round of giggles.

"Oh yeah, busy busy busy. People to kill, stuff to blow up...Gimme you cell"

"What?" Joey asked in disbelief, he almost expected the Joker to be pointing a gun at him.

"Cough up your cell phone, now"

Joey didn't even think, he just pulled out his phone and handed it to the man across from him, before he would actually pull out a gun. His uncle took it and began to press buttons while Joey just stared at him. He tossed it back a few minutes later and said "My number is on that so call, preferably for emergencies". He looked as if he would of said more but a beeper went off which took hold of his attention.

Him, with a beeper, what the hell?, thought Joey.

"Like you said kid, busy busy busy" said the Joker before standing up to leave, but he was caught short by Joey saying "Did you cause the explosion at the boxing ring?"

He halted in his tracks and turned to face the blue eyed teen.

"Don't worry kid, your bully wasn't in it, that was just a tester. And between you and me a lot of people would have lost money if I hadn't of done that" he walked off after saying this and raised his hand to Joey as a gesture of goodbye, without even turning around to face him.

He stayed behind for a few minutes after the Joker had left and tried to figure out what he had meant when he had left his parting line. Who would lose money? What tester? For a bomb? If it was, would it be used in his quest for revenge?

When he decided that it was no use trying to figure out how the Joker thought, he got up and left. He was halfway down the street when he stopped. He questioned whether he should go back to the house where Grace was mindlessly cleaning and Chloe was silently sitting in her room. The house of zombies. And he had made them this way by bringing all of his problems upon all of them. But he had nowhere else to go and he had tried the streets before.

When he was eleven he got into a huge fight with the girl before Laura and no one in the orphanage was being nice to him, little did he know at the time, that you have to talk to people in order to know if they are nice or not. He had run out of the house and disappeared for three days, living on the streets and sleeping in alleyways. He had made friends with a few hobos but that was the only good thing that had come out of his situation. On the second day Chloe had found him and brought him food. Eventually he figured that he couldn't live like this and returned.

He had to go to Grace and if he didn't, his only option would be the Joker. This was so frustrating!

He carried on walking to Graces house.  
_

When he got back to Graces house he found Chloe sitting on the stairs.

"You look like you could use a break" Joey said, taking a seat beside her. "And I may not know much about girls, but I do know how to cheer them up"

"And how is that Mr-Smarty-Pants" asked Chloe sarcastically as she glumly leaned her head against the stairway railing.

"Shopping" Joey replied with a girlish voice. He could be very theatrical when he wanted to be. Chloe laughed and looked at him.

"Seriously?"

"Super serious" Joey said.

"Fine" Chloe sighed, before grabbing the railing and standing up. Joey stood up after her and began to follow her down the stairs.

"Mom, I'm going out for a while with Joey!" the red haired teen called down the hallway.

"Okay, bring your cell and your keys with you just in case!" Grace shouted back from the kitchen.

Chloe did as she was told and headed out the door, followed by Joey, who shut the door behind them. "So why were you on the stairs?" Joey asked as soon as they reached the sidewalk.

"Why weren't you in your room?" Chloe retorted.

Joey decided to let it drop. He didn't want to talk about everything. He was tired and he just wanted a break. That smoothie obviously hadn't helped him yesterday.

"So where do you want to go first?" Chloe asked while trying to walk backwards and keep eye contact with him at the same time.

"Don't mind, you?"

"Classic mall" she said dramatically.

"Classic mall" Joey repeated in that same dramatic voice.

They arrived at the Gotham mall a while later. Luckily Grace lived in a quiet place that was near everything. It wasn't cramped with people since it was Sunday but a good few people were walking around.

One day I will walk in here and everyone will stare at me because they will know, thought Joey, looking around at the on-goings of the building. It had two stories of shops and two elevators in the centre of the building with bridge-like things for people to walk around to the shops on the second floor. There was a cafe behind the elevators, which two people were working at and chatting happily at one another.

Chloe had decided to start off with clothes and dragged Joey into the clothes shop. Joey silently thanked anyone up in the clouds for making Chloe a bit of a tom-boy. She didn't like pink so Joey didn't have to worry about being caught by anyone in the pink section of the clothes store. They didn't stay long and instead decided on going and getting a snack at the cafe.

They walked out of the store and headed towards the cafe with a few purchases, mostly Chloe's, and talked and laughed as they did so. Joey ordered a hot chocolate and Chloe got a chocolate muffin. They grabbed a table near one of the indoor plants and the elevator that faced the entrance.

"I know that you don't want to talk about your uncle but I want you to remember that we are here for you, no matter what" Chloe said gently, once they sat down, which completely took Joey off guard.

"Thanks Chlo" he said, using her nickname.

She just smiled and covered his hand, which was resting on the table, with her own. He looked down and didn't know what to do.

Is she coming on to me, thought Joey.

"Well well well, what have we got here, a couple of love birds" came a voice from in front of them. Chloe immediately removed her hand and the two teens looked up to see Shocker and Talko.

_And just when my day was beginning to brighten up_

**And there you have it!  
I want to thank Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love for giving me help on the plotline for what is to come and a virtual hug cause she is just awesome. Please remember to review and no flames.  
Coping with my absence from fan fiction is hard enough for me, thank you very much XD**

Until then.

**Goodbye my readers, I shall see you in three weeks!**


	9. Protective

**BEHOLD!  
A NEW CHAPTER!  
Sorry I was gone to camp but I am back! And no it wasn't camp rock...it was camp IRISH!  
Enjoy!  
OH YEAH and Joey got a beta! It's the awesome Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love!  
AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**

"What's a matter Jojo?" asked Talko looking down on Joey, who was still sitting down in his seat; he had a goofy grin on his face, which Chloe was secretly planning on breaking.

"Playing boyfriend and girlfriend?" Shocker added.

Joey didn't want to say 'yes' because that would prove them right and it was just downright stupid and he didn't want to say 'no' because Chloe was near and he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he just left it.

"Guys, just leave it" Joey said trying to brush them off as he picked up his bags and headed for the exit with Chloe on his heels. The made it to the car park when a pain shot through the back of Joeys head. The dropped the bags and automatically put his head to his head. He took his hand away and examined it.

Blood.

Just what he needed.

He turned around to face the bullies. Shocker stood there panting but still standing straight with his hands hanging loosely by his sides. Talko on the other hand was in a low crouch and was clutching a rock in his right hand.

"What the hell is your problem?" Screeched Chloe, obviously knowing what had happened. She began to drag Joey away and they began to run. The bullies didn't hesitate and began to run after them. When they thought they had lost them Joey fell down on the pavement. His head was bleeding badly.

"Oh God" Chloe gasped, she dragged Joy to a nearby tree. "Wait here I'm gonna get help!"

Chloe ran off as fast as her legs could carry her and Joey was left beneath an old oak tree. Chloe hadn't thought of his cell phone since she was too worked up. He pulled out his phone and began to press random buttons in the hope that it would call someone and that they would help. If it ended up being Laura he wouldn't care, he would answer every question she had, just as long as she would save him.

In the end he dropped the phone on the ground, he didn't have the strength to do anything, and he was finding it hard just to breath.

"Well look at what we got hear" said a voice, an all too familiar one at that.

Shocker.

Pain shot through Joeys head as Shocker lent down and punched him. Joey left out a yelp of pain and started to hear a voice from the phone but he couldn't comprehend anything since Shocker was beating him up pretty bad and he was losing consciousness. He closed his eyes and let the darkness pull him under.

000

Joey had been flying.

But this had been after the gunshots and screams which were followed shortly by the sound of feet hitting the pavement and fading into the distance.

There was a sigh nearby but Joey couldn't comprehend anything. He was barely hanging on.

And then there was that feeling of flying.

Now he had woken up.

Joey opened his eyes a bit in case there were bright lights. There were but they weren't too bright so he opened his eyes fully and sat up slowly.

"Ya know you really ought to fight back, you can't necessarily say the kid was 'packin' a rock' in your defense cause that just sounds stupid." A voice from the corner spoke up.

Joey's head snapped around and his eyes fell upon the uncle once again. He was dressed the same as usual and sitting in an old get comfortable looking, yet worn out, armchair.

"I need to go, everyone is probably looking for me" Joey declared, swinging his legs off of what he now noticed was a table.

"Can't let you do that Joey boy" the Joker replied, getting up from the chair and trying to get in Joeys way. He wasn't about to let the brown haired teen away that fast.

"I have to go Grace is probably having a panic attack!"

"Ah...Grace, I really need to visit her sometime"

"Don't you dare" Joey hissed, his eyes turning to slits as he looked up at the clown.

"Who are you to stop me? I've known her longer, what law says that I can't visit an old friend. Are you scared I'll hurt her? Or are you scared that I would hurt your little girlfriend" for the second time that day, Chloe had been mentioned as Joey's girlfriend. Joey let out a frustrated growl. He really didn't need this. He ran towards the Joker with his arms thrown out in front of him to choke the other man but the Joker dodged Joey and took a side step. He then grabbed Joey by the hair and pulled his head back.

"Ya know, you really shouldn't do that, oh well we will see each other again tomorrow won't we?" said the Joker happily before slamming Joeys head off of the table.

_That was brief_ thought Joey before fading into darkness for the second time that day.

000

Joey was lying on something soft. It was a funny texture, almost like a fluffy carpet but...different. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them again. The sun was shining down on him and his eyes hadn't been adjusted. He sat up none the less, and looked around, putting his eyes above his head as he did so.

He was beside a hedge. It looked like a front garden at first but then Joey recognized the building that it was in front of.

Chloe's.

_Thank God_ thought Joey before running up the steps but he paused before he knocked. What if 'he' was in there? How did he get here?

Different scenarios began to form in his mind as he began to get more and more paranoid. One in particular was of the Joker dumping him by the hedge and then going into Grace's house before doing only God knows what.

Without a seconds hesitation Joey knocked on the door. He wasn't wearing his coat so he didn't have his key. Probably courtesy of his uncle. He was getting more and more hyped up as he waited for the door to open and nearly jumped when Grace finally opened it with wide eyes and a baseball bat. Instead of Joey jumping however, Grace practically jumped on him and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Oh thank God you're okay!" she cried, obviously on the verge of tears.

Joey closed his eyes and was comforted my Graces worry for his safety. Apart from his mother, Grace was the only one that had ever worried for his welfare or hugged him like this; she was like his second mother.

The hug was over in a matter of seconds and Grace pulled Joey inside the house, but not before looking around the street.

"Chloe!" Grace called as she dragged Joey, by the hand, into the kitchen. Chloe was sitting at the table and her eyes were red and puffy, her breathing was jagged and as soon as her eyes set on Joey she let out another cry and ran over to him.

"I thought you were dead!" she bawled into his shoulder.

Joey stood there, not knowing what to do except pat his friends shoulder and not say anything about how she was wetting his shirt or getting snot on it for that matter. Chloe never had been a 'clean crier'.

She backed away after a couple of minutes and awkwardly looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry it was all my fault" she whispered.

"Now it wasn't it-" Joey began to say but Chloe cut him off.

"YES IT IS. YOU WANTED TO GO OFF BECAUSE OF ME! AND I LEFT YOU ALONE!"

"But you left me to get help" Joey pointed out, wishing that Chloe wouldn't burden herself with everything.

"But I didn't did I?" she shrieked.

She looked pained. Her red hair was everywhere and her puffy eyes were emitting even more tear streaked tracks down her porcelain face. She didn't want anything bad to ever touch him but she was tearing herself apart from the seams in the process.

"Never mind that" spoke up Grace, tearing them from their...conversation, if that's what you would have called it.

"I really need to go to work. We are running very low on cash and I need to pay for food and stuff. Take care" she said as she kissed Joeys forehead, "And be safe" she added as she did the same to Chloe. She picked up her hand bag and her keys before heading outside to the car and leaving the two teenagers alone.

Joey looked over at Chloe.

She seemed to be rocking back and forth even though she was standing up. "Stay safe...we have to stay safe...safe...must protect him" she muttered over and over. She ran out of the room and Joey was left staring dumbfounded at her retreating form.

He went into the living room and turned on the TV trying to block out everything, including the pain in his head. As soon as he noticed this he went over to the mirror over the fireplace and began to examine himself. He used his fingers to feel around where the rock had hit his head and felt something weird, like a type of string.

Stitches.

Joey never liked stitches. He had his first run in with stitches when he was four, after an abusive foster parent had pushed him down a flight of stairs. She was later on prosecuted with 5 years in prison.

_She'll probably want witness protection now_ thought Joey.

After that it had been the bullies and childhood mishaps like falling off walls and out of tree's for example.

_Something tells me, this won't be the last of my injuries, with or without the changes that are about to occur._

There was a strange drilling noise coming from the kitchen and Joey went out of the room to investigate the noise. He found Chloe perched on top of one of the kitchen counters and holding an electric drill in her hand while she held up a plank of wood with the other. She was drilling wood over the windows.

"Erh...Chlo?...Whatcha doin'?" asked Joey carefully.

"Mom said that we had to be safe...that's what I'm doing" Chloe replied as if it were obvious, with a crazed look in her eye as she turned back to her job at hand.

Joey didn't want to get on Chloe's bad side so he went upstairs. Once there, he flopped down on his bed and pulled out one of his books.

Joey had always been quite literate. English was one of his strong points at school. Anything about space or the supernatural and he was halfway through it already.

Less than an hour later, Chloe burst into Joey's room holding wood and her drill; she still had that crazed look in her eye also which scared Joey to no end.

"Your room next and I will be finished! And your room is the most important" she said as she walked over to one of Joeys windows and began to drill, "Or you could bunk with me" she added as she turned to give him a quick wink before returning her full attention on her work.

Joey was really starting to get paranoid so he decided to go downstairs. He walked as fast as he could down the steps and then went into the kitchen.

The place looked as if a bomb had hit it. Knives and forks and all forms of cutlery were sticking out of the drain in the sink and the table was on its side. Joey went over to it and saw a flashlight and blankets and food beside it. It was probably Chloe's idea of a base camp.

_Grace better come home soon_ Joey thought.

There was a sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and Joey went to hide behind the table.

"Joey...where are you?" called Chloe in a perky voice.

Joey pulled his knees to his chest, not knowing what to expect.

"There you are silly goose! I see you've found our base; I knew you wouldn't want to stay in that room of yours"

"Erh...sure...one sec...I'm gonna go and make sure that there is no cracks in the wood on the windows. Don't want any peepers now do we?" asked Joey, feigning concern.

"Oh my God you're right! I'll stay here and finish going through dangerous items that we can't keep and things that we can use for defense!" Chloe agreed, rapidly shaking her head back and forth.

Joey dashed to the living room, picking up the wireless home phone as he did so and went over to stand by the window. He went through the phone book and found the number that he was looking for.

"Hello?" the voice asked, music and chatter coming from the background.

"Oh thank God Grace! You gotta come home!"

"Why? Joey?...What's wrong?"

"It's Chloe I think she lost it...please just hurry!" Joey said urgently before hanging up the phone and returning to the kitchen.

**And I shall leave you at that...cos I'm evil or awesome you pick LOL**

**REVIEW! OR YOU WILL BE TORTURED A LA HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!**


	10. I Think Ma Friend's Gone Craazaay!

**New chapter people!  
Is Chloe losing it?  
Is Joey getting it?  
Is Grace there?  
Find out below, in your next instalment of 'Joey's Story!"...ha-ha I love talking like that XD**

When Joey returned to the kitchen, everything seemed the same, which meant that the place was still a dump.

"Heya Joeykins!" chirped Chloe happily from the back door as she tried to use a wrench to take off the door-handle.

_Oh jeez_

"Come on we gotta sit down and turn out all the lights!" Chloe declared as she snapped off the door-handle and began to walk over to the, now scared, teen. Chloe looked at Joey with pity in her eyes and pushed him onto the floor. For a girl, Joey had to admit that she was strong. Chloe sat beside him and began to look through a nearby basket.

"Here ya go" said Chloe, handing Joey a sandwich, "No meat, just the way you like 'em"

Joey had begun to notice how his friends' accent was beginning to change. More and more southern, he thought.

_Is she schizophrenic?_

Before he could comprehend what was going on, probably due to getting lost in his thoughts, Chloe picked up Joeys arm and put it around her shoulder as she tried to snuggle into him. It was then that Joey really took in his surroundings, despite the place being a complete dump, the blankets set up by the table were cosy and there was one single light resting between the two of them, not to mention the picnic basket.

"I don't like the dark" Chloe whispered in a small voice, trembling as she did so.

Joey looked down at her and saw the fear in her eyes as she stared at nothing in particular.

"The memories come back, the ghosts, I feel as if he will get me again and I don't want that to happen" she began to cry.

"What ghosts?" Joey asked, trying to sooth his friend by running his hands through her hair.

The red haired girl burst out into fresh tears before finally answering the question, "My mom's old boyfriend...remember Grey?"

Joey nodded into Chloe's head, "Well he wasn't as nice as he let on to be...it started when mom left the house one time and he was left in charge of me, he got a call and he got angry...and I just happened to be there and in no time I had become his punch-bag" the girls voice broke at the end of her sentence.

"How long did this go on for? What happened to him?"

"A couple of months...mom started to notice marks and how I would shy away when she tried to hug me and I was badly bruised, but she came home one day and she caught him"

"What did she do?"

"Kicked him out, called the cops, the usual, he pleaded insanity and ended up in Arkham"

"Grey...what is it with people being named after colours?" asked Joey, trying to lighten the mood, "Pink even dyed her hair pink"

Chloe let out a small laugh as the tears continued to leave tracks down her face.

They stayed like that for a while until Chloe eventually fell asleep.

Joey was left in silence with only the sound of Chloe's breathing and his own. Occasionally there would be a sound of the next door telephone ringing or a door slamming shut.

He tried to imagine his friend so vulnerable. The questions and images began to swarm around inside his head.

There was a sound of a key turning inside a door and then the door opening, followed by footsteps.

"What the hell?" asked a voice from the hall in a half whisper.

Joey tried to gently take Chloe off of him and began to head towards the door without making a sound. He opened the door just in time to see Grace about to open the door herself. She jumped nearly five feet in the air.

"What the hell happened here?" Grace began but had to end her sentence in a whisper as Joey tried to shush her and motioned to a sleeping form on the kitchen floor since Chloe's head was sticking out from around the table side-ways.

"Okay" Grace said as she tried to calm herself down and took off her jacket. "She really took 'be safe' a bit overboard. Help me try and take the wood off the windows and hide the hammer".

Joey nodded and headed upstairs to begin taking off the wood that Chloe had been so intent upon putting up. He began with Graces room and then continued on to do the rest of the upstairs. Before long he had complete his task and went downstairs.

As soon as he had reached the bottom of the stairs he saw Grace, who seemed to have finished the downstairs too.

"When did she start this?" Grace asked in a tired voice.

"Just after you left, I never knew she was scared of the dark"

"Her therapists said that they were waiting for something like this to happen it's all my fault"

"Hey it's not your fault, if it's anyone's then it's mine, I'm the one who brought the Joker down on us"

"But you can't help being born, I brought Grey here and I really don't need this right now, it's hard enough trying to keep the bills in check, I'm so sorry Joey, for everything you've been through and everything that's going on now and..." Grace couldn't finish because she was in hysterics and choking on sobs.

Joey wrapped his arms around his godmother and tried to shush her.

"Hey, don't think too much on it okay? Everything will work itself out in the end. What happens happens for a reason, okay?" Joey said into Graces ear.

She nodded and pulled away from him, wiping away her tears as she did so.

"Did she tell you?"

"Yeah" Joey replied with a sad voice.

000

Monday morning had been far from normal. Chloe had fought with her mother so she could go to school and the place looked as if a bomb had hit it, which was highly strange for any house inhabited by someone like Grace.

Joey woke up the fight between mother and daughter but didn't think too much on the subject. His mind was elsewhere.

Today was the day.

He might have to kill someone today. Help his uncle to get revenge against the bullies.

Was he ready for something like this?

_My dad did it and he seems perfectly fine...then again...look where he is, Joey thought sarcastically._

He left the girl's to their own devices and headed towards school. Better to get this over with than to fear and run from it, Grace had once told Joey after he had told her about his first dentist appointment when he was eight.

Halfway to school, he heard fast footsteps and paused to turn around and see where the noise was coming from.

"JOEY! WAIT FOR ME!" Chloe was screaming as she ran towards him, waving her arms frantically as she did so.

When she finally caught up to him, Joey began to walk again.

"Why did you leave?" Chloe asked.

"I didn't want to get in the way of you and your mother" Joey answered honestly.

"It's nothing, don't take any notice, she only wanted to tell me that she thinks that I should see a shrink, something about last night." Chloe said nonchalantly.

"You don't remember what happened?"

"Of course I do, I went upstairs and went to sleep" Chloe said, as if it were obvious.

"Wait, so you don't..." Joey began.

"Don't what?"

"Never mind"

They had finally arrived in front of the school gates.

"I remember the bullies too, I'm sorry, and I know that you didn't like when they said that you were dating me, I mean, I know that I'm not the best looking girl out there, so don't mind them" Chloe said before they entered.

"Chlo, I don't care about them, the truth is: I think you're awesome! I don't want someone that's drop dead gorgeous, I want someone with personality! And you have that. I've known you for forever. I like you"

"You don't mean that, you're just saying that to make me feel better." Chloe said looking at the ground.

"No I'm not" and without a seconds hesitation, he had bent down and begun to kiss her. She was shocked at first but just as she was beginning to relax, there was a grunting noise. Both teens jumped.

Chloe looked away at the school, thinking that it was a teacher and told Joey that she would see him later before hurrying off to her locker.

"Defiantly the lady's man I...uh see. I'm sure it's from our side of the family." Came a muffled voice from behind Joey.

He turned around and looked up to see the Joker in his fedora and scarf again.

"Now?" Joey half whined. He was talking about another thing completely and the Joker knew it.

"Don't whine, that's girly, now come on, we got work to do" the undercover clown declared before beginning to walk away towards a nearby van that was already running.

"What's the plan?"

"Do I ...uh...look like a guy with a plan?"

"You'd be surprised" Joey muttered to himself as he got into the back of the van. He remembered his last experience inside it, when he had been pushed out of it. Just remembering this made him feel pain in his back which helped him to remember more and more clearly.

"Here" said the Joker, no longer wearing his hat or scarf, and handing him a black piece of metal. Joey took it reluctantly and looked down on it and feeling the cool metal beneath his fingers.

It was a gun.

The van began to move as Joey was examining the weapon.

"What's going to happen?" the blue eyed boy asked as he looked up at his uncle.

"I'm gonna show you how to...ah...stand up for yourself"

The clown's eyes still never left the boy. He seemed to be observing him and it was unnerving to Joey, who just tried to stare at the floor but he couldn't do it. He just stared back.

"You look a look like your dad" commented the Joker.

"I hate my dad" replied the teen.

"Then I guess we have...uh...something in common"

There was an uncomfortable silence after this, until Joey broke it with "What do you know about my dad? Did you meet him?"

"I know enough to ha**t**e him... Saw him in Arkham when I was inside, he is a pri**ck** that...uh... thinks he knows _every-__**thing**_. He got what he deserved in the end. He doesn'**t** know everything now, I'm the one that's...ah... free"

"I saw him" Joey admitted, "He tried to make me come back because he said that he was my father...I told him that I have none"

"Te**ch**-n**ic**-al**ly**, I didn't either, I had a drun**k**...well...two of them"

"What's gonna happen to today's bully? Do I have to shoot him, stab him, drown him?"

Joey wasn't mad on the idea of killing someone right now, no matter how much he hated them. What if they bullied because they had problems? Like Joey's parents? Or Chloe?

"You better not be getting cold feet on me now" said Joey's uncle darkly. He said it happily but the threat was obviously there.

The van jerked to a stop and Joey nearly lost his balance.

They were outside a 'well to do' house. One of the snobby bullies perhaps? It had a white picket fence and everything.

"What are we doing here?"

**I decided to be mean and put you on a cliff-hanger.**

**I got a bit of a bock, I admit. But if I know me like I think I do, I should have good ideas for the next chapter...wait do I know me? LOL**

**REVIEW!**

**And hello new readers!**


	11. Hospital Vengence Pt 1

**Okay, Okay sorry for the lateness of this chapter but a lot of things happend, like being dragged on holiday and then getting ready for school (I hate Monday even more now)and then family matters but I am up and running so read and review! I am proud to call this chappy my own !**

**Also thank you to Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love for her awesomeness and how she pushed me to start this after my depressing ordeal. Also for her ideas and just being there to talk to. **

**Enjoy!**

"If you don't kill this guy, I will hurt you, ya don't have cold feet now, do you?" threatened the Joker as Joey kept looking between the house and the gun.

"Is the first kill really the hardest? Did you shoot your bullies? Assuming that you had any" responded Joey.

The Joker just growled a "Come on" at him and began to walk towards the gate but Joey stayed put.

His uncle turned around to glare at him but Joey just stayed there, staring at the ground. He turned around fully and walked back to Joey and glared down at him.

"What's the ...uh...problem?" he asked in mock concern.

Joey didn't answer, instead he delivered a full force kick to a 'not so nice place' and began to run, leaving hysterical laughter behind him.

He ran down the street and turned left, followed by right, cut through an alley and eventually began to walk slowly down another street.

He kept his hands in his pockets, and his head down. He hadn't had his school bag when he had been with the Joker so he didn't need to worry about that. He thought of Chloe, she was probably worrying now, did she break down in class? Did she call Grace? Was Grace panicking? What would his uncle do now? While all of these thoughts swarmed around inside his head, he somehow managed to think of his father for a brief second until he heard the screech of wheels heading towards him. He passed it off as randomers and kept his head down.

That was until he, once again, felt a tugging at his collar and got pulled back, only to be pushed forward again. He hit the pavement and heard low chuckling coming from behind him

'_Shit' _Thought Joey as he tried to get up and look behind him at the same time.

"Tut tut" scolded the man behind him, mockingly.

He reached down and grabbed Joey by his hair and dragged him into the nearby alley.

He stuck his arm out, indicating for the goon on his right to hand his a baseball bat.

Joey's eyes widened.

The first blow had been expected. It hit Joey in the gut and he fell over in pain.

He gasped and tried to get up, only to be kicked in the nose which caused him to fall back again. He crawled into a fetal position as the beating began. He tried to make his mind wander somewhere else, to zone out the pain but he just couldn't do it.

_Is this how Mom felt? _**Bang!**_ Was it worse, since she loved Dad? _**Whack!**_ If she were here would this be happening to him right now? _**Pow!**_ Would uncle Joker be uncle Joker or uncle Jack?_

He was barley conscious and everywhere hurt. It was difficult just to breath. It was as if he had been stabbed or his heart had stopped in his chest , the pain was so bad. At one stage he had actually thought that he had died and perhaps this was just hell.

A few more laughs were heard until the noise was accompanied by the sound of sliding doors and an engine starting before fading into the distance.

Joey reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out his phone. He dialled the first number that was on his speed dial and put it on loud speaker before letting his head finally rest on the flat and cold surface of the alley's paved ground.

"Hello?" asked the voice on the other end. "Joey where are you, I have been waiting for ages! I skipped class and everything, are you okay? What happened?" asked the voice of Chloe with concern.

"Chlo" called Joey in a weak voice, before letting the darkness engulf him and finally allow him to lose track of the pain.

000

Joey hadn't met up with Chloe so she had decided to ditch class and go back to the shed. She found his bag (which he had intended to collect today) and actually got so bored that she decided to go through it.

His current novel, school crap and a mysterious looking brown leather book. She hadn't known what it was so she took a peak, starting from it was marked.

_Today was great. It was normal with the Shocker/Talko problem but after school Chloe and I went to get a smoothie and ended up going to the park and going to the movies. It was awesome._

_Sometimes I think of who my real family are, or if they even want me but even if I never find them, know that I have a family with Chloe. I mean it's a long shot if we get married down the line but in general, we are family._

Chloe dropped the book in shock. That was his journal!

She didn't want to invade any further into his personal opinions on things, as tempting as that was to her. She put it back and left it at that.

She looked around the ramshaclked dump and whistled as she kicked her legs against the box of crap that she was sitting on.

She felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out her phone which was playing the song "Blender" by The Pretty Reckless. She looked down and saw Joey's name on the screen and immediately answered.

"Hello? Joey where are you, I have been waiting for ages! I skipped class and everything, are you okay? What happened?" She said into the phone, waiting for a response like "Don't worry" or "I'm fine, honestly". That was the usual Joey, not what she DID here in response.

"Chlo" she heard faintly.

"Joey? Joey! JOEY!" she screamed into the phone in her hand. Her heart beat escalated as she looked down at the mobile in horror.

When Chloe had had her...'epiphany of protection' she had put a tracer onto Joey's phone without his knowing. He still didn't have any knowledge of this but it was certainly time to use it.

She turned back to her phone and began to press a series of buttons before finally making a map appear with an arrow that pointed to her right.

Bingo, Chloe thought, hopping off of the box and heading for the door with Joey's bag over her shoulder.

She followed the arrow for nearly ten minutes until she finally reached a decent looking street. It was suburbia, as if desperate housewives lived there.

She looked around and her eyes fell upon a lump that was lying on the ground as she began to here a few moans.

She walked closer and inspected the being. What she found was one of the biggest shocks that she had ever received in her life. There, lying on the ground, covered in blood was Joey. He seemed to be unconscious yet still able to moan words, probably from some dream that he was probably having.

"No...Joker... Joker... ow... ow... can't kill... ow... ow... ow... Joker" He would mumble.

Chloe wondered what the hell was going on but pulled out her phone again, regardless and phoned an ambulance

000

It had been over two hours and Chloe was pacing the hospital waiting room while Grace, whom she had called once they she and Joey arrived at the hospital, was sitting down in one of the leather and wooden chairs, trying to get her mind off of things and focus on the abnormal article in front of her in one of those women's magazines.

The doctor finally came out holding a clipboard under his arm. Hid face revealed no emotions which had Chloe even more on edge.

"A slight concussion, no brain hemmorage or blood clotting so there are no life threatening things to worry about. There is, however, a lot of bruising and a dislocated shoulder. We gave him some pain killers and he has to come back for a check up, this day next week." He doctor said. He was quite young, probably a recent graduate with black hair that seemed to fall into his dark brown eyes. On a usual day, Chloe may have peeked at him twice but today she was just concerned for Joey. She didn't know whether or not to refer to him as 'friend' or 'boyfriend' and no matter how embarrassing it may be, she made a mental note to bring it up with him in the near future. First they need to ask him about how this had happened.

"Is it okay to visit him now?" Grace asked, appearing at Chloe's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Yes, visiting hours end soon so you might want to make it quick" responded the doctor before walking off down the hall to attend to another patient.

Grace and Chloe didn't hesitate and automatically headed into the room where Joey was. It was a single room which meant that they had privacy, that they would definitely need when they began asking questions.

"Where were you?" asked Chloe, rushing over and heading straight to Joey for a hug after she saw that he was up and awake.

"How did you get that?" asked Grace pointing to Joey's spilt lip. "And why didn't you call the police?"

"What colour does a smurf turn when you choke it? How many fingers am I holding up!" interjected Chloe.

"Guys, Guys, slow down, please" Joey said in a weak voice, "Oh and Hi by the way"

"Hi" Chloe and Grace responded in unison.

"And for your questions, I couldn't call the cops because they would ask questions and that could put us in danger, not to mention the obvious little detail that I was nearly unconscious! I got this injury from a baseball bat, you are holding up two fingers and as for the smurfs, that is just absurd and it makes me feel bamboozled now" he finished, almost out of breath.

"Sorry" muttered Chloe.

"Hey" Joey said gently, holding her chin up with his hand that had a hospital gizmo clipped onto the end of one of his fingers. "Don't cry, you saved my life, I could be lying lifeless in a pool of my own blood in an alleyway right now"

Chloe had flinched when he said this but held her gaze. Grace was still oblivious to the turn that their relationship had taken so she didn't take any notice of the way that they were gazing at each other.

"Well your safe and that's all that matters" Grace murmured, tousling Joeys hair as she did so.

A voice went over the intercom just then, stating that visiting hours were over and that all visitors should go and what time it would be okay to return at the day after.

000

Joey was finding it hard to sleep properly. He was halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness. A dark shade of blue was seeping in through the windows and no birds could be heard so it was obviously around 1 or 2 in the morning.

He turned around, trying to get comfortable and opened his eyes a tiny bit so he could try and figure out what time of day it was by observing the colours that the window was letting though or even glance at the clock. Instead of looking at the clock he was a dark figure sitting in the chair by his bed. Y the way the person was sitting up, they were obviously awake. Joey, being only half awake, thought that it was Grace, by the shoulder length hair.

"Grace" groaned Joey, closing his eyes again.

A hand reached out and pulled the blanket up closer to Joey as by way of calming him down.

"Why do I always have to be the one that suffers? What did I do?" he asked sleepily from beneath the covers before falling back into unconsciousness.

000

Joey was released from hospital that Thursday. He had been keen on leaving and the doctors couldn't hold him longer but repeatedly told Grace to make sure that he got plenty of bed rest.

Laura had found out about what had happened, somehow and come into the hospital and scolded him for not letting her in the loop and for running off the way that he had. She thanked Grace for taking care of him and insisted that he returned to the Care Home but Grace, somehow, persuaded her otherwise.

So Joey was still free, but he DID have to check up on Laura every once in a while. He asked how Melanie was keeping and it turned out that she had had an argument with Gwen and Gloria had taken her away for the weekend with her foster parents.

Joey was relieved that Mel was okay, she had always been like a sister to him, if anything ever happened to her, he would definitely blame himself for it, even if he had had nothing to do with it and he knew it.

But today he was out of hospital, as much as he dreaded it. He didn't mention the occurrence the night before to Grace, he didn't know why, it was just a gut feeling that he had.

The car journey home had consisted of small talk and a comfortable silence. Once they got home, the two teens went into the sitting room and sat down by the coffee table while Grace headed straight into the kitchen, mumbling something about hot chocolate.

"Wanna play?" asked Chloe, looking over at Joey and raising a deck of cards.

"Sure" Joey replied with a weak smile. His arm was still in a sling but he was able to control his hand. Chloe began to shuffle the cards and deal them out.

A while later, Grace walked into the room, holding two ups of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. Joey noticed that her eyes were red and puffy and her unusual silence. It obviously wasn't easy for her to handle.

As soon as she sat down the front door slammed open and six men burst into the room. One man grabbed Chloe and another took Grace while the last guy took a hold of Joey. The other three pointed guns at them and Chloe screamed.

"La la la la" said a sing song voice coming from the door. In walked the Joker with jazz hands. He was smiling to himself as he walked in. "Good after_noon_" he said happily.

Chloe's eyes were wide and tears were building up. She was biting on her lip and it was obvious that she was trying her best not to scream as the tears began to stream down her face.

This made her the Jokers first target.

"So...you must be Joey's bunny" stated the Clown as he stepped closer to Chloe and grabbed her chin, forcing her face closer to his which made her close her eyes.

Joey felt a second of jealousy which was instantly replaced by fear for Chloe. Jelousy, because in all the time that Joey had known his uncle, he had never been as close to him as Chloe was right now.

"Don't touch her!" Grace gasped, trying to wriggle free.

A high pitched cackle erupted from the clown and he looked at Grace while beginning to poke Chloe. He was obviously poking her hard sine she seemed to be gasping in pain each time.

"Jack, stop it!" screamed Grace.

The Joker looked over at her darkly and growled. Grace straightened up and shrunk back.

The Joker motioned for the goons to take Grace to the other room.

"What are you doing to my Mom? Where are you taking her?" screamed Chloe at the clown which earned her a slap across the face.

"What's wrong, hmm? Joey's not protecting you?" Joker asked teasingly, "What's your name anyway Doll?"

Chloe just lifted her tear filled gaze to Joey who looked back in terror and sadness. She then looked towards the door, anywhere away from 'him'.

"Answer me!" roared the Clown Prince of Crime.

Chloe dropped her gaze back to her shoes and replied "Ch ch Chloe" in a small voice.

**What's gonna happen to Grace? What the Hell is up with Joey? And will Chloe be safe?**

**If you enjoyed part 1 and you REALLY want part 2, THEN REVIEW! I am proud of this if I do say so myself.**

**Review ;)**


	12. Pt 2 Joey's Bunny

**Guess what I've got? I FAST UPDATE!Thanks to Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love who made this possible. And also PLEASE REVIEW, cos I got literally nothing the last time so Hurrrrry! I'm working my butt off when I should be doing homework!**

"Well then, your mommy needs to have some grown up time." Said the Joker, in a sing song voice.

Chloe trembled under his gaze. Her mother was all she had, apart from Joey but he wasn't 'definite'.

The Jokers amusement was fading from the girl so he walked into the kitchen where Grace had been forced to sit down. The Clown motioned for the goons to get out. He walked around the kitchen randomly picking things up and observing him.

"It's been a looooong time" declared the Joker, dragging out the 'long'.

Grace just looked down at the table and fiddled with her fingers that were resting her lap.

"I bet, you told Joey all about me, and I bet that it was at this very table" the Joker said, voice getting darker, as he took a seat across from Grace and pointed his index finger against the surface of the table.

"And I must say, the guy that knocked you up must have been one hell of an ugly fucker cos I saw your kid...were you drunk?" he asked with fake sincerity, crossing his arms and leaning forward which cause Grace to leap forward and strangle him. They ended up on the floor with Grace on top of the clown, pinning him down.

"Oh, watcha gonna do, huh, Gray Gray?" choked out the Joker with a smirk which earned him a slap in the mouth. Grace didn't want to be called by her old nickname; it just brought back too many painful memories like the man that abused her daughter, Jack going to Arkham, losing her best friend. The Joker hadn't liked the slap so he flipped the two of the over and put her beneath him.

"Oh I get it, you don't wanna think about how you put your own flesh and blood through hell so you could just fuck some guy. Even to a guy like me, that's cold. I've seen hell, I've lived it! That's why I am the way I am. And aren't I just BRILLIANT! What was wrong with me huh? Was I freak back then? Was I scary?" he pressed.

"How do you know about Grey?" shrieked Grace, trying to break free and avoid the Jokers questions.

"I bet you knew all along, I bet...you saw the marks on your little girl and knew what was going on...but you just ignored it, cause he was good in the sack"

"STOP IT!" Screamed Grace.

000

Joey could hear Grace screaming the other room. He knew that she would probably get the worst of it since she had known the Joker back when he was Jack and it would destroy her to finally see him as this...clown. And he probably didn't like being called by his former name either.

Joey looked over at Chloe and saw her look back at him with wide eyes. Chloe would be destroyed if she lost her mother. Joey never lost anyone that he remembered so he didn't really understand loss like how Chloe had felt after her grandmother had died or how Grace had watched his uncle fall apart from the seams.

"He's not that bad." Joey tried to say, calming Chloe was a top priority for him.

"Oh please, have you looked in the mirror lately?" spat Chloe sarcastically.

"But that was me"

"And that Brian guy dressed as Batman was him!"

"I'm related!"

"YOUR MOM WAS RELATED AND LOOK AT HER, SIX FEET UNDER, WHERE MY MOM IS GONNA BE!" screamed Chloe.

That had struck a chord with Joey and he tried to break from the goon that was holding him back but failed miserably.

"Who is going where?" asked the Joker, now standing at the doorway. "Aw Jo Jo already fighting with your bunny? Wanna borrow a knife dear nephew? Young love"

"SHUT UP!" Chloe and Joey screamed in unison.

"WHY DO YOU CARE FREAK?" Chloe shrieked.

The Joker growled and came towards her and kicked her in the stomach which caused her to bend over in pain. The goon let go of her and let her to kneel on the floor. It didn't stop there, the clown began to kick and punch.

"NO NO NO GET OFF OF HER YOU PRICK!" roared Joey. His uncle stopped and looked up at him before slapping him in the face. "Emotions...they make you WEAK!" he said before slapping him at the other side of the face.

"And as for you missy" the Joker added, turning back to the red haired girl on the floor, he grabbed her chin and shoved his knife in her mouth. "I don't like racists, so what if I'm different? I can make you just like me, remember that. Handy advice for the...future" he said into her ear. Chloe had closed her eyes for that part, she honestly didn't want him being that close. He wasn't Grey, he was worse and if he were, he was definitely capable of a lot more.

He got up and walked out of the room without a second glance, henchmen following him.

Both teenagers were left kneeling on the ground. Chloe avoided Joey and he let her have his space but they both headed for the kitchen straight away. The door was left open ajar and Chloe immediately pushed it open to see Grace bent over on the ground with blood pouring from her mouth. She fell over on to the ground and Chloe rushed over to her mother at once.

"She's alive, thank God"

Joey made to walk over to Grace but Chloe held out a hand, "BACK OFF, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY LIKED YOU! YOU BROUGHT THIS DOWN ON US! YOU'RE NOT FAMILY, MY MOM JUST KNEW YOURS! YOUR LIKE YOUR DAD, YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING, NO WONDER THE JOKER HURT YOU, HE HATES YOU AND HE IS ONLY HELPING YOU WITH REVENGE SO YOU CAN GO TO JAIL FOREVER!" Chloe screamed at the boy.

She is only telling the truth, and no one else seems to around here lately, thought Joey.

"I loved you and you were to God damn obsessed with your evil freak of an uncle, and now look what he has done, and apparently my mom knew him like how I know you. IS THIS OUR FUTURE?" Chloe roared with tears streaming down her face.

"Just get out" she cried feebly to Joey.

Joey didn't even protest, he silently left the room and got his backpack before silently walking out the door.

What would he do now?

000

Grace was asleep on the couch with a blanket thrown over her. Chloe had tended to her wounds and a wet cloth was resting on her head.

Chloe took one last glance at her mother and walked upstairs to her room. Joey was gone, and she didn't know what to do about her mother, she was alone. But she was stubborn so she still thought that she was right in everything that she had said to Joey. In a pessimistic way she WAS right but that was mean.

She stepped inside her room and looked around. The place was a dump, so it was obvious that the clown had paid her room a visit. A disgusted look crossed her face as she thought of the way that he had called her 'bunny'. She shuddered and stared at herself in the mirror on her that dresser, to her left. She was obviously going to have a bruised face tomorrow, that was for sure. She just started in silence until she noticed the piece of paper that had been placed wedged between the glass and the frame.

She walked over and picked it up to read it.

_**Mommy Dearest knew all along about your little...problem **_

_**She just couldn't come to believe it, or is that what she told you?**_

_**Truth is Bunny, he was just too good in the sack**_

_**HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA**_

The scrawl was messy but it was obvious who it was, and if that weren't enough, the Joker card that had been left behind certainly was.

Chloe began to cry again and flung the paper across the room. She screamed in anger and frustration and knocked over her dresser. She began to destroy her room. It became chaos.

"NO NO NO SHE LOVES ME!" the girl shrieked out loud. She fell onto the ground and pulled her knees u to her face. She sat on the floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by the aftermath of what 'he' was doing to her.

Joey, was all that Chloe could think of.

_It's not his fault_

**YES IT IS!**

_No! He wants, what's best for me, he hung with me since we were losing our teeth and that was long before he knew anything about his family._

**He killed his family.**

_No his Dad did. We are his family now._

**Wrong again, you want him to destroy our family too? Typical me!**

Chloe rocked back and forth as she tried to think and snorted through the tears that were heavily flowing and causing her breathing to turn uneasy.

"What do I do?" she asked the empty room.


	13. A Kiss With A Fist

**This is my third update this week! I know who I blame and you know who you are, XD Cause you're awesome;)**

**This has got to be my favourite chapter so far and I loved writing it.**

**Enjoy!**

Joey had been wandering around Gotham for a good few hours. He had kept his distance from the Narrows.

He wandered aimlessly until he finally decided on what he was going to do. He was going to visit his dad, again.

He walked to Arkham on his own. The receptionist was the same as the last time and she seemed nice. She let him in without the help of Grace's presence. The orderlies were different but they acted the same as the last guys. Joey sat at the same table and waited for his father to appear.

Crane eventually came out looking a bit worse for wear. He had bags under his eyes this time and he looked like a walking zombie. He was about to say something until Joey cut across him.

"You've ruined my life, I hope you're happy"

"What?"

"Because of you I'm an orphan and Joker is the way he is and hell bent on knowing me and making me kill people at school and beating up my godmother- who is the only family have by the way- oh and what else is there...He got my girlfriend to kick me out! So here is you're chance...you're great excuse that you have had nearly fifteen years to think about, shoot, gimme your best shot!"

"I'm sorry about what happened but we were short on money and your mother kept pressing for more and I was really pressured with college work and I tried to take the edge off so..."

"You drank."

"Yes, and I came home a bit more woozy than usual, I didn't even know what had happened until the day after"

"That's it? The great Jonathan Cranes excuse for the past fifteen years? Did you ever stop to think about me? Or what 'taking the edge off could do'? Do you even know why I bothered to show up here? It's because I was kicked out and I am most certainly not going back into that damn care home again!"

"Listen, I know that I haven't been there for you and yes, I ruined your life, but I want you safe so stay away from the Joker."

"Yeah, cause that's just so easy." Joey replied sarcastically.

"Just take care of yourself"

"What was Joker like? Before he became the Joker?"

"Honestly? I don't think that he liked your mother dating but we met after he was incarcerated."

"Oh Okay, See ya" Joey said before standing up and walking off without a second glance. He didn't know if he would come back or not, the last time he had said he wouldn't yet here he was.

Once Joey had left the hospital he began to walk around to clear his head and think. Crane was obviously not telling him something. Joey was determined to find out but for now he was tired. He suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket and took out his phone. He looked down at the screen and saw Chloe's name come up. He immediately answered it and didn't wait to hear her say anything, instead he automatically said "Are you okay?"

"I want you to come back" sobbed Chloe from the other end of the phone, "If you don't I'll kill myself I swear! I don't want to be alone! The ghosts might come back!"

"I'm on my way." Joey replied before hanging up and began to run to Chloe's house, he wasn't too far away. He jumped the front gate and ran to the door. He still had his key and put it into the lock as soon as possible. Once inside he went into the living room but no one was there except for a sleeping Grace, then he tried the kitchen but still there were no one in sight. He ran upstairs and rushed into Chloe's room where he found her at last, curled into a ball into the centre of the destroyed room. There were shards of broken glass everywhere from her mirror that had broken.

"Chlo?"

"Why did you have to cause this? Yet be so...innocent and amazing." She whispered.

"Hey Chloe?" Joey coaxed as he walked forward and tried to get his head level with hers.

"WHY ME?" she screeched like a banshee as she tried to attack Joey but he stood up quickly. Chloe did the same but took on a violent pose.

"And you know what's the craziest part? I LOVE YOU!" Chloe screamed as she ran forward and punched him in the face; Joey had an instinctual reaction and hit her back. They began to attack each other furiously until eventually Joey grabbed her head as if he were about to head butt her but instead kissed her. Chloe stopped and reached back in for another until their violent punching had become violent kissing.

Chloe had admitted that she loved him and even though it was followed by aggression she had admitted it none the less. Chloe wrapped her arms around Joey's neck and tried to pull her colder to him.

_My Bunny_ he thought possessively as he pulled her closer.

"I love you too" he whispered in between kisses.

By now they were against the wall across from the door and Chloe was being against it by Joey. She laughed a little and continued what she was doing until a bang could be heard from downstairs. Both teens jumped and pulled apart. They looked at each other and then down at the floor in the direction where the noise had come from.

"We'd better check, your mom is down there" Joey said, looking at Chloe who was ticking her hair behind her ear. She nodded and stayed behind Joey as he went downstairs to check.

Grace was struggling against thin air. "No" she moaned, "No no no Jack don't please, think about this" she was crying in her sleep. She seemed to have knocked over a lamp.

"She's having a nightmare, its okay" Joey said to Chloe behind his back. He pulled the blanket closer to Grace and left the room.

"We better get this place clean before she has a nightmare while she is awake" Joey joked, trying to lighten the mood. Chloe gave him a feeble smile in response. They started with the kitchen. Chairs were put back into place and broken objects were picked up and thrown in the bin. The place was then swept. They then moved onto the living room. Chloe couldn't help but just stand there and watch her mother. Joey ended up doing the cleaning. He pulled Chloe out of the room when he was finished and brought her upstairs to her room. He still didn't trust the glass.

He got rid of al the glass himself and fixed the dresses while Chloe put them into their proper places, at one stage she looked as if she were trying to hide something but Joey let it pass. When they were done they went to Joey's room which seemed untouched.

They were lying on Joey's bed in each other's arms when Chloe finally spoke, "The Joker left a note in my room before he left."

_That's probably what she was hiding_, Joey though, bringing her closer.

"He said that my mom knew about Grey the whole time and that she didn't do anything because he was just good in bed"

"But she DID do something remember? I won't let any evil boyfriends hurt you, okay?" Joey asked before kissing her hair.

"Yeah." She sniffed before finally falling asleep to the sound of Joeys breathing.

Joey on the other hand couldn't sleep. Thoughts kept swarming. They were telling him to do what the Joker said but the other half was telling him to obey Crane and be safe, live a life with Chloe, have kids and grow old with her.

Eventually he couldn't deal with thinking about right and wrong anymore and let the darkness consume him.

000

Joey could feel something on top of him and he opened his eyes a bit to get adjusted to the light and see what the thing was.

He saw a flame of bright red hair and remembered what had happened yesterday. At the moment he felt loose and free, as if nothing were holding him back, he was happy for the first time in a very long time.

Chloe's head moved and Joey saw that she was wide awake. Chloe let her chin rest on his chest. "Good morning sleepy head"

Joey laughed at the ceiling loudly and looked back down at her. She was smiling brightly at him and her eyes were shining today. Had he done that?

She reached in and pecked him on the lips but Joey grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back in. They began to take off where they had left off.

The thought, 'My Bunny' crossed Joeys mind again and Chloe froze and pulled back, "No." she whispered "No no no no no." she repeated grapping her hair and pulling on it. The tears were coming back. Joey realised that he had spoken his thought out loud. "That's what he says!"

"Please Chlo, everything in my life is FUCKED UP!" Joey began to shout, "But you're not fucked up, no, no, no. I'm not gonna let you, you can't...and you are never leaving me" Joey had never heard himself talk like this before and Chloe was obviously frightened but she didn't try to move away.

Chloe wasn't able to move, she loved Joey too much and she wasn't going to lose him, mental problems and Joker uncles or not. She was sticking with him. She didn't want him to hurt her either and seeing as his uncle had did this to him –and how bad the Joker was- Chloe didn't want Grace to get hurt either. Or would Joey REALLY hurt Grace?

**Dun dun dunnnn.**

**Joey dear are you okay?  
**_**who says I'm not? Mwahaha**_****

Review!


	14. School Effects

**Another update and I do believe that Joey is getting better. School is unbelievable but here he is! Enjoy and please Review!...or give me some chocolate XD**

"Oh shush shush shush shush." Joey comforted, still acting like 'him'.

Chloe was scared but she decided to play along before someone got hurt. She nodded and hugged him. She held on for dear life, as if she could squeeze out the new person that was inside her boyfriend.

"It's only 7am." Joey commented.

Chloe pulled away and looked at the clock. "Are we going to school?"

Joey thought for a second before responding "Why not?" He got off the bed and looked at himself in the mirror. He tousled his hair, Chloe looked over at him as he did so and slipped off the bed to go and get ready.

Chloe was beginning to see a dark side in Joey, one that she had never seen or encountered before. It was like in Spiderman when Peter Parker became bad.

They met up with each other downstairs, just in time to see Grace wake up.

"Oh my God are you two okay?" She gasped, trying to check both teens for any cuts or marks. She saw Chloe mark on her face where she had been slapped.

"We are perfectly fine" assured Joey, "We were just on our way to school, we shouldn't give into this terrorist demands" Joey sounded as if he were sane. As if he were still against his uncle and his plans, he sounded as if nothing had happened. And that scared Chloe even more.

"Well, we're gonna be late, see ya later mom" Chloe said before grabbing hold of Joeys arm. Joey led the two of them out of the house. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. She jumped and stiffened up, watching the empty street ahead of her. Once she began to get used to this, Joey took away his arm and threw it over her shoulder. Chloe had the same reaction and kept her head down. Joey scoffed and before she knew it, Chloe was against a wall.

Chloe's breath hitched inside her throat and her eyes widened. Joey didn't take any time closing in the gap between them and instantly began to crush his lips against hers. At first Chloe was stuck there motionless. Then she began to struggle. This wasn't the Joey that she had grown up with and come to love. This was a twisted monster, a creation of a psychopathic clown.

She tried to push him off of her but his grasp on her tightened. He grabbed one of her arms and squeezed. She gasped in pain and tried to move away but this only caused his grip to tighten. When he spoke it was as if someone had dumped ice cubes down Chloes back.

"Unless you don't act like you're supposed to and be my little woman that is head over heels for me, I think that I will have to call my uncle and tell him that you need to smile more. Got it? "Joey threatened, he pointed a finger at her just before finishing up with, "Now are we going to be a good little bunny.

"You don't have his number" Chloe pointed out in a small voice.

"No?" Joey asked teasingly, mockingly, like 'him', "No? Let's see shall we?" Joey pulled out a cell phone and began to browse through his contacts until ,eventually, Chloe could hear a ringing noise on loud speaker.

"Hello?" Came the Jokers voice, sing song and dangerous as always.

"Sorry I think I have the wrong number, I was looking for Hugh's number, my mistake" Joey said happily into the phone before shutting it and turning back to Chloe. He had been so happy on the phone and in under a second he had transitioned back into dark and threatening. Chloe swallowed her saliva and latched onto Joey's arm as if nothing had happened.

"Good girl."

000

Twelve goons and a clown were in a warehouse in the Narrows.

The clown was sitting by an old table cleaning knives and sharpening them while the goons were bust loading guns onto school bus. The men seemed to be struggling and tired whereas the clown seemed at ease with his knives. A ringing noises sounded throughout the room and the goons stopped to check their pockets.

"IT'S ME. GET BACK TO WORK!" shouted the clown as he answered the phone, "Hello?" he asked happily, wondering who could be calling him at this hour of the morning.

"Sorry I think I have the wrong number, I was looking for Hugh's number, my mistake." Came Joey's voice before abruptly. The Clown didn't know what to be more angry over the fact that he had gotten numbers wrong and wasted HIS time or the fact that he had hung up so quickly. Either way that boy had t be punished.

"Boy's, we got a trip to make."

000

Chloe and Joey arrived before the bell rang and sat next to each other in class. Joey kept his hand on top of hers, which lay on top of the desk, at all times.

No one took notice except for some of the school gossips, who kept looking back and whispering. Joey seemed unfazed whereas Chloe sat up straight and took in her surroundings, Math class had certainly put a quarter of the students asleep

The teacher droned on and on. At one point Chloe found herself resting her head against Joey's shoulder as she began to drift but remembered what he was now and slowly removed her head and pretended to be waking up.

The bell rang and students began to shuffle out of the room. Chloe yawned on her way out which caused her to accidentally walk into someone.

"Sorry" she said to the person before actually looking at them. In front of Joey and Chloe stood Robbie Shann.

"Hey, Loner, you should teach your whore how to walk!" Robbie spat.

Joey looked at the ground a let out a little laugh, unfazed that one of his worst bullies was starting up on him. Chloe looked up at her boyfriend with worry. Changed or not, she still worried for his safety. Everyone in the hallway were after freezing at this stage, each face was fixated on the two boys.

"Bitch, go get your eyes checked, not only are you walking into people but you're with this freak. Are you Mrs Freak now?"

That was when Joey finally snapped. His head shot up first to let his gaze close in on Robbie. Then he reached forward and threw Robbie against a locker

"Oh what have we got here boys? Your boy here grow a pair?" Robbie jeered.

"You know" Joey said into Robbies ear, reminding Chloe even more of his uncle, "I can practically smell the fear coming from you right now, go near my girl again and you will be begging, for death, do I make myself clear"

Robbie nodded and Joey let go.

"Come on" Joey said, his arm outstretched for Chloe She walked up to him and linked her arm with his. He smiled but Chloe looked around looking at everyone's reactions. Last month, something like this would have been a blessing but now she didn't want any of it. A part of her probably loved the attention and the fact that Joey was standing up for himself but there was certainly a part that revolted where it was coming from. What had the Joker done to Joey?

They arrived to class and sat near the back. Geography, it was another boring class, probably worse than the last one and Chloe knew that she wouldn't be able to control herself this time if she DID fall asleep upon Joey.

The teacher had to leave at the start of class after the intercom called for him after some boy was after clogging a toilet on purpose and , being the vice principal, the Geography teacher needed to be present for the boys punishment.

As soon as he left, Robbie walked up to Joey and Chloe's table, flanked by his fellow bullies.

"Think you can get away with your little stunt?" Robbie said venomously.

"Who said I couldn't?" came Joeys reply.

"Says me"

"That makes no sense"

"No being smart with me, funny boy?" Robbie reached down to grab Joey but Joey was too fast and dodged before grabbing the back of Robbies head and hitting it off of the table.

One of the bullies went to attack Joey but he dodged and kicked them in the groin. The other bullies began to back away slowly.

"I bet you are the reason that toilet got blocked." Joey laughed happily as he wasn't kicking Robbie, who was on the floor by now. Blood was pouring from his nose and mouth by now.

Another laughter sounded throughout the room. One that made everyone in the room freeze, including Joey. Chloe was paralyzed. She had heard that laugh in her house only yesterday.

"Well this is definitely a turn in the tide" said the voice. Everyone looked at the figure now. The Joker was standing there in all his purple and green glory. Robbie grunted from the floor and coughed up some blood. The Joker looked down at him and chuckled a bit before saying "boo".

That was when the class decided to go beserk. Every student was either roaring or screaming while trying to run out of the room. Chloe made to move forward but Joey gripped her arm and pulled her back.

At this stage Joey, Chloe, Robbie and the Joker were the only ones in the room. Robbie was convulsing blood and moaning in pain.

"Finally seeing things my way?" Came the sing song voice that everyone was waiting for again.

"Something like that, it's becoming clearer anyway" Joey responded, pulling Chloe closer to him. Chloe stared at the floor and remained that way, she couldn't look at either of them right now. What would Grace say? This would destroy her.

Chloe got so lost in her thoughts about Grace that she ended up forgetting about her fear for a split second, in which she pulled away from Joey and began to yell. "YOU SAID IF I WAS GOOD YOU WOULDN'T!" She paused at that second. She had just screamed in front of her now mentally unstable boyfriend and his serial killing clown uncle.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry" Chloe began to panic as tears came to her eyes, she stepped over to him and throw her arms around him. Even though he had completely lost it, she still loved him and he was possessive of her. And if her mother's boyfriends and relationships had thought her anything, it was that a possessive man is a protective man. So if she tried to suck up to him he should accept her moment of weakness. Right?

"Sorry sorry sorry" she repeated as she pecked him on the cheek between each word.

"You've definitely got this one scared." The Joker commented, walking ever closer towards the two. Chloe walked back a step as the Joker took one forward but she never let go of her grip on Joey's arm.

"You gonna finish him off kiddo? Or is chickening out a fortè of yours?" the Joker said, holding out a gun for Joey to take. Joey took it without hesitation. He wasn't about to give the Joker a reason to call him a whimp and he certainly wasn't going to get beaten up again. He walked over to Robbie and looked down at him in disgust.

_Why did I ever refuse to do this in the first place? He never did anything for me, only gave me an occasional black eye._

Robbie looked up at Joey with pleading in his eyes. "Please don't no, no NO!" he screamed but got cut off by the sound of a loud bang.

Chloe screamed in response and turned away. She couldn't move. She tried to look at the floor again but it only sent a chill up her spine after seeing pieces of skull and brains that had come from what had once been Robbie.

She looked at the window and saw three police cars parked in front of the school. A fourth was just parking which meant that more were on the way. The front of the school had become host to yellow tape which was holding back staff and students that had been evacuated. Chloe couldn't help but think of Grace as she saw the face of a mother who had a look of fright on her face. She had definitely heard the shot.

"Get away from the window." Joey called.

"Big boy now aren't we, with our bunnies and guns" the Joker teased. Chloe wanted to cry and Joey wanted to just leave. Cops were swarming the window and both teens glanced at it.

The Joker scoffed playfully and said "Hand me the gun".

At first Joey was hesitant but then he realised that the Joker ALWAYS had a gun. He probably had a spare right now. He handed it over in the end. On his way out of the room his uncle grabbed his arm and gave him directions to a back door that should be clear. Joey grabbed Chloe by the waist and pulled her along.

"Bye bye bunny" the Joker sang before following them out the door and walking away in an opposite direction.

Once they had made it outside, with their bags over their shoulders, they avoided the cops and onlookers and began to walk home instead.

"Why are we going home? Shouldn't we stay with the others to keep up appearances?" Chloe asked.

"Because your mother will be terrified since a guy shot got shot by the Joker." Joey replied.

"But he didn't, you did!"

"Look, you are going to keep your mouth shut got it? Or I really will call my uncle and believe me, I can do a hell of a lot worse, understood?" Joey threatened after pushing Chloe against a wall for the second time that day. His eyes were dark as they looked down into her own. Chloe just nodded. Joey let go of her and began to walk with his arm around her again as if nothing had ever happened. "Oh and don't think that I forgot about your little stunt and school, because I didn't." Joey whispered into her ear.

As soon as they walked through the door Grace was on top of them in an instant.

"Oh my God are you okay? I told you that I didn't think that it was such a good idea. The news says that the guy was in your year and the Joker was there. Are you okay?" Grace asked fussing over the two and checking for any marks.

"We're okay, we were outside with the others" Joey assured. Chloe wondered how he could lie through his teeth like that. He could never lie to Grace when he was younger. When he was ten Grace had sucked the truth out of him after he had accidentally scratched the neighbours car.

"Is there anything you need?" Grace asked.

"Nah, I'm okay, just a bit tired" Joey said pointing his thumb towards the stairs.

"What about you honey?" Grace asked.

"I think I might chill out for a while, read a book or something" Chloe replied in a small voice.

"Okay if you two needs anything, just shout okay?"

"Sure" the two teens replied in unison before walking up the stairs.

Once they were safely inside Joey's room, he turned around to Chloe in an instant. Chloe panicked and began to step away slowly and as Joey watched her, tilting his head to the side as he did so.

"I mean what I said back there, I'm sorry, I was scared, but I know that you won't let anyone hurt me...unless you allowed them, a-a-and I really don't want to make you angry, forgive me?" Chloe asked in a feeble voice with her arms raised in defence as she ended up against a wall

"I know" Joey sighed which completely caught Joey off guard, he pulled her towards him as she gave him a weak smile, trying to see the Joey that she used to know and still loved.

He kissed her as if it were urgent and deepened tit until she had to cling to him before she fell over.

It wasn't a perfect day but at least they were safe and she was on Joey's good side.

**What did you think? I don't know but I will if you review.!**

**XD**


	15. Cancer Sticks

Chloe let out a yelp and fell off the bed with a thump.

"Wakey wakey!" Joey announced, he dumped the blanket back on the bed as Chloe looked up at him with squinted eyes. Joey was already dressed in the uncomfortable morning light and standing over Chloe. "Hurry up and get dressed, we are going to go for a romantic walk, just the two of us."

Chloe groaned but got up anyway. No one had said that mentally unstable relationships were like boot camp. She got up and went to get dressed into her normal jeans, converse and band tee.

"No no no, this won't do. You have to wear something pretty like a dress. Show off your femininity. Some thing less baggy would be nice, you look like you have no boobs at all."

"DO TOO!" Chloe responded.

"Then wear something that shows it."

"You want me to look like a ho?"

"No I would like for you to look like a girl"

"Oh what am I then, a boy? Something you're not telling me?" Chloe said angrily but quickly saw the look on Joey's face which made her automatically change her attitude and ask "Which colour?"

"White would be nice on a day like this"

Chloe sighed and took a moment to gather herself before going to look for a white dress. She wanted something that wasn't transparent but part of her still wanted something nice.

_Am I going as crazy as him?_

Eventually she came across a halter neck dress which came down to her knees. Chloe didn't want to leave her legs bare so she put on tan tights and ended up wearing her old trusty black converse. He better be happy, thought Chloe as she stomped back into her room.

"Beautiful"

"Where are we walking to?"

"Just around"

Chloe got her purple and black striped messenger bag and followed Joey out of the room and downstairs. No one bothered to tell Grace where they were going since both of them knew that she would say no, half asleep or not. Chloe could have sworn that she spotted a note hanging from the mirror before she walked outside.

Joey wrapped his arm around her waist and kept her at his side while he walked down the street. The sun was shining and the day was beautiful. There were trees on the outside of the pavement, which cast a shadow.

Chloe didn't like the uncomfortable silence but it was obvious that Joey seemed to be enjoying himself. And why wouldn't he? He had his girlfriend, the sun and a nice gentle breeze. And also the fact that, in his mind, his life was looking up now since he seemed to have a solution to the bullies.

"Do you love me?" Chloe asked curiously yet curtiously.

Joey looked down at her with anger in his eyes, "Of course I do." They continued to walk on for another while in silence until Joey broke it this time with, "Do you love me?"

Chloe looked straight ahead of her and then at the ground, letting out a breath and a smile creeping up on her face. After everything that had happened and was still going on she was still telling the truth when she replied, "Yeah...I do...probably since...before you even knew that you liked me"

"You liked me since you were seven?" Joey joked, tugging her closer as he said it and smirking down at her. Chloe laughed then, for the first time in days. Crazy or not, she was feeling more and more comfortable in his presence.

"Aw, this is so cute, it makes me want a puke bucket" came a voice from in front of Chloe and Joey which caused them both to look over to where it came from.

"What cause you're too ugly to ever have a moment like this?" Chloe responded sarcastically, she was cranky because she had been interrupted while on the verge of getting the real Joey to come out again.

"Please, save yourself while to still cane form embarrassment, better off saving yourself and leaving that loser while you're at it" Billy Greenwood said with a smirk and hands in his pockets.

"Yeah cos you just happen to be the master in these things huh? That why you're single?" Chloe would not let this go.

"Let it go" Joey interrupted a bit TOO nonchalantly, placing himself between Chloe and Billy.

Billy was one of those guys that came from All-American families where his grandfather would talk of mother and his mother would roast turkey at Thanksgiving while his father earned the big bucks at some firm. He had more brains than most bullies but he was also on the football team which was surprising for the brains part but not for the All-American stereotype. He had honey coloured hair and grey eyes to suit his personality. He was buff but he was a prick that played Mr. Popular but also the good boy that would cut your lawn in summer.

"Why? Too much of a pussy?" Billy probed.

"If I were you, I would back away now, I don't think you would like to end up in a coffin just yet" Joey warned in a dark voice.

"That a threat JoJo?"

"Leave him alone jackass, go play with your fuck buddy or something" Chloe intervened.

"He you little bitch-" Billy began, trying to get to Chloe with his hand outstretched. He tried to pull back after he hissed in pain but looked up to see Joey holding onto his arm with a firm grip. His arm was starting to bleed and the blood was beginning to drip onto the pavement and run up his arm.

"Out of your comfort zone I see" Joey said sweetly with a big smile in his face as he began to get Billy onto his knees. In Joey's other and was a knife. Chloe didn't have to guess who he had gotten it from.

"Chlo? Be a Doll and grab his legs please" Joey said in a voice that had ' If you don't my phone is making a call' dripping from it.

Chloe did as she was told and grabbed Billy's legs just as Joey got him by the arms and began to drag him into the bushes. Chloe grunted under the weight of Billy's legs alone. Billy was on the verge of tears, his eyes were wide with terror.

Joey seemed...happy. Chloe was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable when she remembered DNA and crime scene investigation things. A piece of her hair could get caught in the bushes and she could get caught and-

"Erh, Joey?" Chloe asked in a timid voice.

"Yes honey bun?" Joey asked as he began to caught at Billys torso and drown out his screams with his phone playing loud rock music.

"Can I leave please? When the cops find him they could find a strand of my hair and we could get caught" Chloe begged.

Joey looked up at her with dark eyes. The look on his face told her that if she tried to run she would be after signing her death warrant. "Keep guard and don't even try to run" He growled before turning back to his kill. He was like an animal of prey or a vampire, bending over his kill and preparing to take its life. This was another factor that scared Chloe to no end.

Chloe walked out of the bushes and stood on the pavement looking out at the road with her arms crossed as if she were trying to keep herself together. She could here Billys muffled screams through the music. She knew the song after Joey had played it over and over again. She pulled out her own phone in case anyone walked by and wondered where it was coming from.

She heard the muffled screams get worse and worse as she began to shake with silent tears. The tears were streaming down her face and she jumped when someone came up behind her and put a hand on her back. She flung around and saw Joey standing behind her without a drop of blood on his clothes. Killer or not, she couldn't handle what had just happened and she just wanted someone around her. She threw her arms around him and stood in silence for a few minutes as they stood there in each other embrace.

"Come one let's go home, Shush it's okay, things can only get better now" Joey said, still in a good mood.

"Okay"

"Please stop crying"

Chloe nodded and moved closer to Joey as he threw arm around her shoulders. "Whatcha wanna do tonight? We can watch a movie, how about that?"

"What would I do without you?" Chloe sighed. Joey took it up as a compliment, that he was a good guy but what Chloe was actually saying in her mind was, what has he gotten her into? The trouble, the breakdowns. She just couldn't help but think of things along this line. Also the biggest thing, how could she still love this guy? He killed two people of his own free will, he is related to the most wanted man in Gotham , he hit her, he threatened her and she STILL loved him. _Am I crazy?_

"I said stop crying, it's getting old." Joey growled.

Chloe wiped her face with her hand and nodded just before looking ahead. They hadn't walked that far from the house. Maybe far enough to take away the suspicion though which led Chloe to another thought, _Did he plan this?_

Once they walked inside, they walked into the kitchen. Neither had eaten breakfast and they were greeted by a tired looking Grace at the table.

"We haven't been gone long" Joey assured before Grace could say anything.

"I know, I heard you leave, you guys need a break, you know what we need? A vacation!" Grace declared, slapping the table as she tried to get up but ended up falling back into her chair. "Oops" she said happily.

"Mom, what the-" Chloe began walking over to her. She stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air, "Have you been drinking?"

"Only a lil bit" Grace burped, she giggled and apologized before breaking out into full blown laughter she got up off the table and walked out of the room. Joey and Chloe stared at the ceiling as they heard Grace trudged up the stairs.

000

The alarm clock beeped 7:30 and both teens groaned. Chloe pressed the snooze button and groaned again sleepily. Joey was behind her with his arms around her waist like a teddy bear.

"We are gonna be late if you don't wake up." Joey whispered in Chloes ear. His breath tickled her and she laughed a bit.

"You have work today don't you? Chloe asked with her eyes still closed.

"Yeah, look at us, like real married couple" Joey said, sitting up and looking down at her while stretching and yawning.

"Do you believe in marriage?" Chloe asked him, opening her eyes now and staring at the wall ahead of her.

She could practically hear his pause, "I don't know, why? What about you?"

"I don't know, don't think I believe in the thing itself but if the person I was marrying REALLY wanted to, I suppose I would." She chose that moment to sit up and yawn. "Another dress today?" she asked.

"Nah, I don't want anyone taking my bunny on me, now do I?"

Chloe laughed and got up to get dressed. She came back a few minutes later and saw Joey looking around picking up random objects and toying around with them.

"I'm ready" Chloe announced in a small yet tired voice.

Joey turned around and took her in, "Come on"

They said goodbye to Grace and headed towards school. They arrived while everyone else was still just coming in. The place was quieter than usual, the student that chose to speak only did so in whispers. Some looked over at Chloe and Joey as they whispered, the rest just ignored them. Joey didn't take any notice but Chloe was beginning to feel smaller and smaller.

Classes went on bit oddly. The classes were quiet, no one got into trouble for talking because no one talked. None of the teens in the room were paying any attention to the theorems on the board and sighed in relief when the bell rang.

Chloe moaned and got up out of her seat. She sat down as soon as she could at her next class. She was exhausted since she hadn't slept all night; her morning tiredness was just an act. Well she WAS tired but not after sleeping. The guilt had been knawing at her all night and every time she tried to close her eyes she could hear the muffled screams of Billy in the bushes. She hated the guy sure, but she didn't want him dead. Joey was on a rampage now it was like 'Revenge of the Nerds' or 'Carrie'. Joey wasn't going to stop anytime soon and Chloe knew that. All of these things were scaring her and she didn't know what to do. She felt as if she was trapped in a corner and she didn't know how to get out.

Chloe leant her head against her hand and began to doze off until she heard a loud bang and a "BOO". She screamed in shock and looked around. Joey was looking down at her. Everyone else in the room was staring at her by now so her scream head certainly been loud. Joey looked emotionless which scared Chloe a bit, he defiantly wasn't going to let this one go and she wasn't going to get out of it like she had before. A hug or a kiss wouldn't get her out this time.

Joey took a seat as the teacher came in and the rest of the class looked up to the front of the room. Chloe crossed her arms and put them on the desk before resting her head down in frustration. She was dead, everyone was suspicious, Joey was gone in the head and no one could do anything about it. Just great.

Chloe slept a little during class but was awakened by the bell. She had had nightmares and she really wanted to sleep. No rest for the wicked, she thought as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Joey grabbed Chloe around the shoulders and smiled. Now she was really scared. He steered her past the class they were meant to be in and up a set of stairs, down corridors and up more flights of stairs until eventually, Chloe found herself on the roof of the school.

"What do think you're doing hm?" Joey snapped.

"I'm sorry, I was drowsy, I'm tired" Chloe began to cry, her eyes filling up with tears. The exhaustion had her emotions all over the place and everything in her mind was beginning to go haywire.

"You don't scream like that" Joey growled, grabbing Chloe's wrists and forcing her to look at him. They were at the edge of the building now.

"I'm sorry! Please stop, you're hurting me! Ow, please don't hurt me! I'll be good I promise" Chloe gushed along with her tears that were running in fast streams down her cheeks.

"Well, well, lookie what we got here" came another voice, "Is lil Joey taking out his anger on his small and defenceless girl? That…is…sad and pathetic".

Joey turned to glare at the voice that had interrupted them. The third person was walking around with his hands in his pockets, probably hanging on to his lighter, he had black hair that was cut short and dark eyes green eyes. He was wearing a hoodie and a baggy pair of pants which probably meant that he ditched class to come up for a smoke. If this were a month ago, Chloe would probably have been terrified that she was missing class and might have also nearly broke down after a teacher scolded her for it but those teachers had never undergone anything like what she was going through now. They always said that they were there to help but they did nothing, _Hypocrites_ Chloe thought with a sneer.

"Mind your own business" Joey barked at the new guy.

"Oh I don't think so Joey boy" the boy replied.

"Go away or you will end up like Robbie and Billy"

"Oh , so you heard about Billy then?" The green eyes boy replied curiously as he lit a cigarette and took a drag from it, "So you DO hear things huh?" He put down his cigarette and stepped towards Joey, "I'm not scared of you" the chav declared, pointing his cancer stick at Joey, "And quite frankly, I don't think that you have it in you, attacking Robbie or not, I bet you screamed when that gun went off".

The guy was REALLY far off as Joey had been the one to pull the trigger. Chloe had screamed and the Joker had just smiled. That chav didn't know what he was talking about.

"Taylor, you are threading on thin ice, I'm warning you"

"No no no no" Chloe cried quietly to herself. No one could hear her and she began to slide down the wall where the generators were kept. Her feet gave out and she slided onto the ground crying heavily. She couldn't look but she felt as if she had to. She watched as Joey pulled the knife, she heard him muffling Taylors screams, watched some of his blood hit the ground and above all, she heard the struggle for survival. Joey had begun to laugh as he held Taylor over the side of the building.

"You know what I hate?" Joey asked, "I hate people who think that they know exactly what they are talking about when they are ice cold, they have EVERYTHING wrong" Joey spat right before he left Taylor drop. He screamed as he fell. Chloe knew that that would haunt her forever. She began to rock back and forth and put her head on her knee's. Joey looked around and spotted her small form on the ground, he didn't look like the vengeful Joey who had been hurting a few minutes before. Chloe couldn't help but sob again at the sight of him.


	16. What Eyes You Have

**Sorry I forgot to add the A/n to the last one but the link for Chloe's white dress in one of the previous chapter is one my page! Also I have been wondering about if Joey should get a fan page. What do you guys think? I hardly ever get any reviews so it doesn't tell me how many people read this thing. And if hardly anyone reads it, what's the point in giving him facebook. So review to let me know!**

They had escaped the roof just in time. They had to hide in the bathrooms while staff came running to the stairs.

Joey had decided to take Chloe home; he had gotten a text on the roof from his uncle saying that he would meet him at a certain place because he wanted to bring him somewhere. He didn't know where but he didn't really care either.

Chloe was in a world of her own, she was shaking and non responsive. Joey had tried to get her to talk but it didn't work.

He kept his arm around her and kept her walking down the school steps. He made her walk all the way home, glancing at her every couple of seconds. He had left their bags inside the old shed before he had left to avoid suspicion.

Chloe was still unresponsive when they arrived home. He left her in his room and looked at her while she watched the floor silently... Grace was working a night shift and she only left an hour ago. A part of Joey genuinely didn't like leaving Chloe on her own but he was going to see the most dangerous man in the city so he knew that it wasn't as if he would attack her while he was out. He shut the door and left the house.

It had taken the two a while to get back home since Chloe had walked so slowly and the sky was beginning to turn a dusk colour. The sky was filled with pink and orange hues while the birds sat quietly in their trees. Nobody else was out and Joey was happy for that. He briefly wondered what Laura was up to but pushed that thought out of his mind as he spotted a van at the corner. He walked up to it just in time as the door swung open and a hand pulled him inside.

"What took you so long?" the clown in front of him asked.

"Did you see the news today?" Joey responded sarcastically.

"Having fun without me?"

"Where are we going?" Joey asked agitated, but wanting to change the subject, where the hell WERE they going?

"For a boy's night in...Now...shu**t** u**p**, and don't try anything!" He turned around and began to put his foot on the gas. Joey tumbled over as the van took sharp turns and bends in the road. He hit his head against the back door and fell down onto the flat of his back as soon as the Joker hit the brakes. Joey groaned in pain and put a hand to his already tender head and stood up.

"We're here!" sang the clown as he opened the door and finally spotted Joey who was still clutching onto his head. "What's wrong with you?"

"Did you ever take a driving lesson?" Joey asked, getting out of the van.

The Joker hit Joey on the back of the head and walked off with Joey following behind. He looked around and took in their surroundings. It was the same place as the last time; Joey could have sworn that he still saw some of his blood on the ground in the alleyway across the road.

"No muck ups this time" the Joker said darkly as he handed Joey another gun. De ja vu had him caught in its grasp for a few seconds before Joey finally moved and pushed the gun away.

"Got any flame throwers?"

The Jokers smile increased, "now we're talking...but no" he turned around and continued up the path. The curtains to the house were closed and the house seemed eerily quiet.

"We got rope right?...where are we?"

"Yeah...some guy you know...what's his name...Steel...Steely...Steelers?" the Joker asked, purposefully mocking the guys name, or nickname in this case.

One of the goons picked the lock open and they went inside. Everyone could hear the faint sound of loud rap music from the hallway. The hallway seemed normal enough with its pale blue walls and pale wooden table which had a mirror up over it. A tall indoor plant was behind the door, near the coat hanger.

The Joker walked down the hallway and everyone followed. Everyone peaked inside a room and looked around except for Joey who had been following the Joker. Steelers bedroom door was opened just a crack which allowed them to watch as he sat back in his gaming chair with the speakers built into it. He looked content in the comfy looking red and black chair and his Xbox controller in his hands.

The Joker wasted no time and kicked open the door which made a huge banging noise. Steelers jumped and looked up with wide eyes. "What the fuck?" he whispered under his breath as he tried to get up but the Joker motioned for a few goons to hold him down. Two other goons walked in after their...colleagues and tied Steelers to his chair which seemed to be rocking as he struggled.

"A bit old for rocking chairs aren't we?" the Joker said as he looked down at the bully. He was tied up by now but he wasn't gagged. He was trembling in his seat. His dyed blue hair was beginning to fall into his face as he shook his head back and forth. Pleading green eyes scanned the room looking for a familiar face which landed in Joey who was standing between the Joker, who was in front of him, and the door.

"Hey...Jo-man! You know I was only kidding right? When I had the lighter, I didn't mean to hurt you or anything...wanna help me?"

Joeys yes widened himself and he walked forward as if he were terrified until a sneer crossed his features, "Nah, I think I'll pass"

"But...come on" his voice began to break as he began to stare t the ground until eventually his head snapped back up. Joey could have sworn that he saw his eyes glass over with tears before eventually saying "I always knew you were a freak"

"Innocent until proven guilty" Joey responded with a smirk.

Steeler was terrified now and he could only cover up his feelings with nastiness, Joey had to admit that he was finding this amusing. Someone handed Joey a canister of gas and he took it without a saying a word.

He began to splash it around on top of the blue haired bully silently, the sound of Steelers choking and the Jokers sniggering being the only sounds in the room.

"Oops, forgot my light today, I bet you have one though" Joey said as if he weren't about to murder someone else today.

One of the goons passed a lighter and Joey lit it up, "Any last words?"

"You're crazy!

"Nah, I just see the world through different eyes." And with that Joey threw the lighter. The screaming began instantly and sparks started to erupt from the game controller.

000

Chloe looked up from her lap and into her mirror. She looked like a zombie, there was a deadness in her eyes. She closed them as the voices began again.

_Ugh why do you let him walk all over you like that?_

**He didn't walk on me!**

_Then what do you think the whole "grab your arm and drag you off" thing was?_

**I deserved it!**

_For getting a fright?_

**For drawing attention!**

_You need to toughen up!_

**Oh yeah? How!**

_Don't let it phase you! You are your own woman! Joey belongs to you, not the other way around!_

Chloe blinked at herself and stood up, walking over to her mirror. She picked up a photo of her and Joey. It had only been taken last year. It was actually pretty similar to her Graces picture of her and Jack. In fact, it was actually taken in the same park.

**Mine**

Chloe looked up into the mirror again and found that a completely different person was staring back at her.

000

Joey walked out of the room calmly and out of the house. He looked as if he was walking around the street to a friend's house and not away from a house that he had just set on fire.

An arm reached out and grabbed him by the arm, "Where do you …uh…thin**k** you are going?" the owner of the purple gloved hand asked.

"Home?"

"Oh no no no no, you are coming with me, you need to celebrate, let loose"

Joey was pushed into the back of the van. This time his uncle sat in the back with him. "How is the bunny doing?" the Joker asked as if it were an awkward conversation.

"Well, you make a good threat, she does as she is told now" Joey said happily before continuing, "She's unresponsive at the moment, it's hard for her to process everything at once"

"How did you end up meeting a thing like that?"

"First day of school, I kept to myself and a guy at lunch tried to take her candy, the guy hit her and she kicked him where it hurts. Afterwards we were paired together in the seat arrangements, she asked why I was quiet and I told her that I didn't want to get on her bad side so I should keep quiet altogether and she laughed. We started talking after that and everything came together I guess. Grace seemed nice and stuff, she was kind to me and it was nice to feel as if I belonged somewhere"

"Feisty one isn't she?"

"Honestly, I think she is beginning to lose it" Joey said with a smile.

The van jerked to a stop at that moment. Joey was getting used to travelling in the van by now and barely moved when the goon driving hit the brakes.

The side door swung open and everyone jumped out. They seemed to be in a warehouse. Cardboard boxes were strewn everywhere, a table was placed in the middle of the room covered in papers and blueprints. Goons walked around and picked up a few things from behind the boxes and started handing them around. One was placed in Joeys hand and stared down at it as the sounds of cans and bottles opening began to sound throughout the room.

"Drink it"

"But I'm under age"

"You killed two people today but you won't take drink?" the Joker asked teasingly.

Joey scoffed and opened up the bottle before throwing back the first sip. And it quickly became the first of many.

000

Joey hadn't put much thought into this so he was obviously lucky when it turned out that Grace was working the night shift. He was dropped off at the house and began to walk up the garden path, the noises of the van fading into the background.

He stumbled to the door and barely fit the key into the lock before opening the door. He turned on the lamp by the door and shut the door behind them.

"Honey I'm home" he laughed to himself quietly as he walked upstairs.

He trudged up the steps, luckily without falling down. "Better check in on bunny"

He opened Chloe's door and peeped inside. She was sitting on her bed and looked up at him as soon as she saw her door opening. She looked better than she had before.

Joey came over and plopped onto the bed next to her. "heya hun"

"You okay?" Chloe asked meaningfully.

"Peachy" Joey replied before leaning in her a kiss. Everything stopped as they pulled away from each other. Joey reached back in and Chloe didn't fight against what happened next as they fell back onto the bed.

000

Chloe was up bright and early the next morning. She ended up making pancakes. Chloe hardly ever cooked but when she did her cooking actually turned out to be quite nice.

Joey had woken up to the smell of bacon wafting up the stairs. He looked over to find the bed empty and got up and dressed. He walked down the stairs with a hand on his head since he had a splitting headache from the night before.

When he walked into the kitchen he noticed Chloe standing there with her back to him. He decided to sneak up on her and wrapped his arms around her waist before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Good Morning" she said happily, as she mixed pancake batter.

"I could get used to this"

"How are you this morning?"

Joey looked at her and spun her around so she was facing him. "Wonderful" he said before leaning in and kissing her, she didn't try to pull away so he deepened the kiss until they heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Grace was back from her night shift. Joey smirked at his bunny and walked over to the table as Chloe resumed her cooking.

"That smells great" she said to Chloe as she sat down and put the paper and her keys onto the table. She walked over to the fridge and got some orange juice and leaned against the working board.

"Well I thought that we just deserved it all, I was just in the mood"

"Very optimistic I see, and how about you Joey?"

" I have a good feeling for today"

Grace frowned and put down her glass before looking at the ground and saying "Then you're not going to want to hear about what happened"

Chloe stopped what she was doing and looked up at her mother.

"Neville Melville was killed last night. A fire started in the house, they still haven't found the cause of it yet"

"Who?" Chloe asked, pouring some of the mix onto a frying pan.

"A guy from your class…what was it you kids called him….Steve…Steel…Stiletto? No of course not…Steel…"

"Steelers?"

"That's it!...I'm going to go and take a nap and start cleaning in a few hours, goodnight!...I mean….morning..I mean-"

"Good bye Grace and have a great sleep" Joey finished for her.

Grace smiled warmly at him and left the room, closing the door behind her. Chloe listened to her mother walk up the stairs and into her room as she put breakfast onto two plates.

Chloe put Joey's plate in front of him and sat down with her own.

"Not again…when is this going to be over? How many are left?" she asked him. They both knew what she was on about. She was worried for both of them. If Joey got caught and jailed what would happen? Would he get the death sentence? What would happen to her? Would she be arrested and marked as an accomplice? What about her mother, Grace say or think? It would destroy her!

"You know the Joker couldn't remember his name either..think it's a sign? Your mom and him would make a great couple"

"Shut up"

Joey gave his girlfriend a dark look and grabbed her arm and began to squeeze, "You're right, I'm wrong sorry!" she squeaked.

Joey let go and they were thrown into silence. Chloe wanted to forget the whole ordeal so she broke the silence with "What kind of name is Neville?"

000

"How was Bunny this morning? How's she take it when she saw you?"

"She was fine, made breakfast today."

After the van stopped and everyone got out of the van, Joey soon learned that they were in the middle of nowhere.

The goons were walking up a hill and into a forest. Joey was curious as to why. He soon found out when he spotted a small blue tent, further into the walk. Joey was pulled back by his uncle and motioned to stand back as a goon threw something into the tent which cause it to smoke. Someone came out coughing and looking up with wide eyes. One of the goons knocked him to the ground and put a gun to his head to stop him from squirming.

Joey walked over to them and kneeled by the guys head.

"Heya Logan!" he said perkily.

The guy known as Logan only began to breathe fast and stare up at Joey with huge terrified eyes.

"My my, what big eyes you have" Joey commented as he knelt down and brought a switchblade near to Logan's eye. He scraped around the eyes which made Logan wince and cry out in pain.

"All the better to see you with my dear" Joey quoted as he plunged the blade into Logan's eye. Logan's mouth snapped open ready to scream in pain but one of goons gagged him. He tried to close his eyes as his good eye began to leak tears.

"Please" he tried to whisper through the gag.

Eventually Joey stood up holding a dark red squishy looking ball. Logan's eyeball.

That was when the Joker began to laugh hysterically

000

Joey made it home at five o'clock that evening. He rushed upstairs immediately to change his clothes which had ended up being splattered with blood during the massacre. Logan's body now looked as if it had been ravaged by an animal. His uncle had been pleased with Joey and his progress.

Once he changed his clothes, he put the dirty ones underneath his bed and left the room to look for Chloe so that he could show her his new toy, Logan's eyeball.

He found her in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. If Joey were to have seen this a few months ago he would have been unnerved by it but things were different now and he may have taken it into account but he certainly did not stop to worry about it. As long as she was his bunny and did as she was told, he was happy.

"Guess what I've got" he said as he stood behind Chloe and came into focus. She looked at him briefly in the mirror and stared at him expectantly before calmly picking up a hairbrush and beginning to brush her hair.

He smiled a held up the eye, which he had attached a chain onto. Chloe's calm instantly disappeared and she shrieked as she stood up.

"What the….no no no…okay….." she growled at herself in frustration and began to pull at her hair as she stared at the ground. She looked like someone that was having an episode.

"Don't worry…it's real" he said happily as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. He seemed perfectly at ease, as if they were a married couple with money issues and he was telling her that it would be okay. "It's Logan's" he smiled.

That became the last straw for Chloe and she fainted.

000

Joey was back in Arkham again and sitting patiently in a chair while the orderlies fetched his dad. His father had told him to stay safe….or sane, as he had originally meant. What would he say or do now when he saw Joey, Joey didn't think that he was insane but to the eyes of anyone else, he was. If anyone knew what he had been up to lately, he would probably be in a straitjacket and a padded cell right next to his father with Chloe in counseling, Grace in tears, and barely any visits. But even if such a thing really happened, Joey knew that the Joker would bust him out. Wouldn't he?

The orderlies came in at that second with Crane in his usual attire; orange jumpsuit and white straitjacket.

He was roughly thrown in a chair before the orderlies walked off to stand by the door nearby to keep watch, each with a dirty look on their faces.

"Was someone being naughty" Joey teased with his head down and a dark look on his face.

"I told you to stay away from him" Crane said angrily.

"Well, he is family after all…he's there, you're not….and you're the genius"

"He is not family, he isn't a blood relative, he isn't really your mothers brother!"

"Well he acts like it, unlike some people around here" Joey scoffed, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"And how do you suggest I go about doing that?" Crane snapped.

"Quit acting like an ass for starters"

"Don't use that sort of language with me, there are a lot more words in your vocabulary for you to put to use!"

Joey rolled his eyes.

"When I get out of here, there will be hell to pay"

000

While Joey was busy convening with his father, Grace had woken up and had begun to clean as she had said she would. She decided to start with the laundry and went around the house to gather the dirty clothes that were lying around. The house was still upside down, according to Grace, and it badly needed to be cleaned. She put her own clothes into a basket and then went into Chloe's room to get hers. The room was still a bit messy but she had only come inside for the clothes, she would do the rest later. She spotted Chloe sound asleep on the bed and tip-toed quietly around the room for the clothes. When she was finished she went into Joey's room. It was probably the cleanest room in the house by now. Then again Joey was barely ever in it since he was either busy on his little outings or with Chloe in her room.

Grace got down on her hands and knees in case any clothes had ended up under the bed and she smiled to herself as she spotted them. She pulled them out and gasped when she saw the blood on them. She looked around worriedly and picked up the basket and left.

000

Joey arrived home again for the second time that day. He was a bit pissed after his visit to his father. They had ended up having an argument after Joey realized that his father had been trying to psychoanalyze him.

He walked into the hallway and leaned his head against the front door before leaving out a gust of breath.

"Joey" a voice called from the kitchen.

Grace.

**And there you go! Another chapter, I swear, I think that these are getting better**

**REVIEW please!**

**I haven't gotten one review in ages!**


	17. Sandalwood Strawberries and Vanilla

**Joey got new fan art which is on my page. It was done by the fabulous Sweeney. Sparrow. Joker. Love so *claps!**

**Also Chloes dress is also on it…I may have already told you.**

**AND thanks to Andrea for your comment on facebook about the crossover which brings me to…..drumroll please.**

**What would you guys say to Joey having a facebook fan page?**

**NO ONE HAS REVIEWED IN MONTHS! And Facebook is a nice way to know that Joey is being noticed. So review and tell me your thoughts!**

**Skitz;)**

Joey sighed and walked down the hallway into the kitchen. Grace was sitting at the kitchen table patiently with a cup of tea in front of her.

"Can you sit down please?"

"Sure"

Joey walked toward the table and took a seat across from Grace. He wondered what was wrong, he could sense it, and he wasn't stupid.

"I'm confused and I was wondering if you could help to explain it for me."

"Of course" Joey replied calmly, which reminded Grace of Crane for and instant.

Grace reached down beside her and placed Joey's clothes on the table in front of them.

"Now, what's a good kid like you doing with this, hmm?" Grace asked patiently, letting her crossed arms rest on top of the table.

"Where did you get these" Joey responded darkly.

"They were found underneath your bed "Grace sighed. "Joey what's going on?"

"I don't need you prying into my personal life!" Joey snapped.

Grace flinched and replied with, "Well, we need to be honest with each other right now with everything that is going on with Jack and all of those people dying".

"He isn't Jack! His name is Joker!" Joey roared, standing up fast and causing his chair to knock over in the process.

"Yes he is, he is just sick! I know that I've been away and busy with work but you have to calm down and talk to me! I know that Chloe hasn't been acting like herself but-"

"I've had enough, this conversation is over" Joey said before walking away and going to his room, leaving Grace alone in the kitchen as tears began to well in her eyes.

"Get up sleepy" Joey cooed Chloe out of her sleep.

Chloe groaned and rolled over to face Joey. Her eyes slowly opened and a smile spread across her face. "G'Morning handsome"

"Come on we have to go"

"Where?"

"School of course! We may be odd compared to everyone else but everyone needs an education "

"Mmmmm, Joey! Stop speaking smart talk when I'm not fully awake" Chloe chuckled as she stretched and rubbed her eyes.

"Come on….I'll see you at the gate in ten minutes" Joey said before leaving.

This caught Chloe up short and she stared at him leaving while in mid stretch. We would he meet her up at the gate? Wouldn't he stick around and tell her to wear a dress? Wouldn't he even kiss her after she woke up? Something was wrong and Chloe knew it.

She got up and put on a pair of black skinny jeans and her black sequined top that one of her mother's friends had brought her back from Paris and her converse.

She looked in the mirror before she left. The stranger still hadn't left the mirror and she was looking good, in Chloe's opinion. She had hardly any spots and her face was pale but in a good way. Her hair was pretty straight too which seemed to be a gift from God in Chloe's opinion.

She skipped breakfast and just picked up her green school bag before walking out of the house. It was beginning to get cold out, an obvious signal that winter was coming. Leaves were dying, days were getting shorter and the place seemed to be dying more a bit every day. It oddly reminded her of all of those people who had lost their lives to the Jokers new game with Joey.

"I said ten minutes, not five" Joeys voice wafted from the gate as gentle and trusting as ever.

"Well, I wanted to see you faster" Chloe responded with a small smile playing on her lips. Joey smirked back and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer to him and planting a kiss on her lips. Since Chloe was in a good mood this morning and was so intent on finding out what was bugging Joey this morning and find out what was wrong, she tried to deepen the kiss which Joey only seemed obliged to go along with. They stood there for a few minutes, each tongue fighting for dominance until Joey finally pulled away and said " We need to get going, or we are gonna be late, we don't want suspicions flying around now do we?"

Chloe looked like a disappointed puppy and shook her head. Joey looked down at her once more before pulling her away towards school, his arm never leaving her waist.

Chloe had to admit that she like Joey's dominance for her. It was like his way of showing that he cared and no guy could ever touch her. If a guy so much as looked at her now, especially after the Robbie incident, they probably wouldn't have anymore eyes left to do it again which reminded her of last night and Joeys…surprise.

"Joey?" Chloe asked curiously yet conversationally.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to that eye in the end?"

"It's here…don't worry" Joey said producing the eyeball and swinging it around.

"You can get caught!" Chloe whispered.

"Relax babe, everyone probably thinks that it's a joke shop thing anyway!" Joey reassured.

Chloe looked around paranoid, making sure that no one was watching them. Luckily the coast was clear.

"Put it away" she whispered, still looking around but putting her hand on Joeys shoulder. Joey raised an eyebrow at Chloe but it away nonetheless.

"No need to be so paranoid Doll" Joey said into Chloe's ear as they continued to walk along the street. Chloe rolled her eyes. She was used to him sounding like his uncle now; she admitted that she kinda liked his new dark side.

He pulled her closer and she couldn't help but smile.

"You know what?" Chloe asked matter of factly as the two stopped walking.

"What?" Joey asked looking down at his red haired girlfriend.

"I love you Joey Napier" she responded, reaching up for a kiss. Joey met her halfway with no complaints. They stood on the sidewalk in each other's arms for a few minutes like that. Joey, with his hands around Chloe's waist and pulling her closer while Chloe herself wound her fingers into Joey's hair.

After they pulled away, both out of breath, and staring at each other in the eyes.

"We should get going, suspicions right?" Chloe said, repeating what Joey had said earlier.

Joey smirked down at her and they continued their walk to school.

Today the school seemed as if it were practically black and white with the depression. Joey didn't see why everyone was so bad, after all it was the school jackasses that had died not a loved one or a popular or a teacher.

Everyone was either sitting on the ground crying their eyes out or walking along slowly staring at the ground. Some people were calling it a curse, saying that it had befallen the school and that anyone else could go in a second, as if they were in a "final destination" movie. They were right in saying that someone else would go, but they were stupid in thinking that there was no pattern to these deaths. And they would never know, Joey thought smirking to himself as he held onto Chloe's hand while they walked down the school hall.

Joey dropped Chloe off outside her class, which was actually one of the few that he wasn't in. He kissed her forehead and they said their goodbyes before separating. Chloe sighed and walked into class, disappointed that she didn't get any more out of Joey about what was bothering him.

Chloe took a seat and got her books out. She liked this class, the teacher didn't use favouritism and he was nice to anyone that succeeded in his class and she did.

The class itself was enjoyable and everyone groaned when the bell rang, probably signifying that they had something terrible next like maths.

Chloe took her time exiting the class put was held in place after the teacher walked up to her and leaned against the desk in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Mr Hefferman?" Chloe asked in a quiet voice.

"Listen, you're a good kid and you are capable of so much, so I'm going to be honest with you. You need to stay away from young Mr Napier, since the two of you started dating, as I've heard, I seemed to notice that your grades and class co-operation have sunk dramatically. Is there anything you'd like to say about this?"

"No, I..." Chloe couldn't finish the sentence and quickly picked up her bag before running out of the classroom. The halls were empty by now since everyone was in class, except for a few loiterers.

She couldn't go into her next class looking like this, so she ran to the bathroom and locked herself into a cubicle. She locked the floor and sat on the toilet, her body shaking with her sobs.

Why was everything so hard? She loved the guy and she would do anything but why did people have to walk up to her and tell her all her faults for being with them... Screw them, they didn't know her!

A knock tore Chloe from her reverie and she looked up at the door, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry but I noticed how upset you were and just wanted to make sure that you were okay I know the teachers here can suck if that's what's wrong, not that I'm asking or anything, I mean it's none of my business" the voice rushed near the end, getting a bit nervous.

Chloe was beginning to feel a bit nauseas so she kept a hold of the toilet roll rack at the side of the cubical as she stood up. Her knees felt like jelly. She slowly unlocked the door and met a concerned looking girl. Her deep chocolate brown eyes were wide and her straight mousy hair seemed to be a bit frazzled, it was tied back into a messy ponytail and Chloe also noticed the headphones that the girl had in her ears.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to-"

"No, its okay, thanks" Chloe cut across before the girl could try to apologise again.

"I'm Vicky by the way." The girl said, outstending her hand.

Chloe looked down at it a bit nervously and the girl gave an awkward look before pulling it back. "You don't like that touch thingy, it's okay, I get it!"

The girl didn't see like the type that would miss out on class and Chloe wondered why she had ditched.

"I'm Chloe" Chloe said, hugging herself and looking around the bathroom.

"That's a cool name...so...you feeling better?"

"I'm fine thanks...so...you don't look like a girl that likes to loiter"

"Oh I just got in late because I had a dentist appointment and I don't like to disturb classes, it's also handy for homework and study, you know?" Vicky replied, leaning against the sink.

"How much longer until the bell goes?"

"Just a couple of minutes"

The two girls remained in an awkward silence after that until the bell finally rung five minutes later, each one happy to escape the uncomfortable silence.

Chloe didn't last two minutes in the hall without Joey finding her. He grabbed her and spun her around to face him.

"What going on? Why weren't you in class" he asked.

"Can we go please?" Chloe begged.

"Sure, okay"

Joey led them out of the school and into the old shed. He sat Chloe down onto one of the boxes and looked down at her, waiting for her to explain.

"I feel funny lately, and the teacher held me back after first class, he said that I had to stay away from you" Joey was tempted to say 'So you were taking his advice when you didn't come to class?' be he refrained from doing so.

"I went to the bathroom because I had a bit of a break down, I just couldn't go to class like that, I'm sorry" she whispered looking up at Joey at the end.

"It's okay, are you feeling okay?"

Chloe nodded weakly, I feel tired is all"

"Well then come on, let's get you home" Joey said grabbing Chloe by the waist and leading her out of the shed.

"Okay" she whispered quietly to herself.

Walking Chloe home reminded Joey of when he had killed the chav on the roof. Chloe had been unresponsive and barely looked alive. He knew that she was fine this time, she was just feeling a bit sick, but he couldn't help the feeling of de ja vu that washed over him.

When they reached the house Chloe went straight into the kitchen, hoping to find something for her stomach in the medial press by the sink.

Joey sat down near the table to keep an eye on her and watched her intently as she rummages through the first aid kit until Grace burst in.

"THERE YOU ARE!" she gasped, "Where did you go?"

Joey kept quiet and turned his attention. Grace followed his gaze and landed on Chloe.

"Are you okay, pet?"

Chloe nodded quickly and resumed her search.

"What's going on, and why was their blood on your clothes?" Grace asked again.

"Never mind, I got in a fight okay?" Joey said angrily, trying to make Grace drop the subject.

"YOU'RE GOING TO END UP LIKE JACK!"

"MAYBE I WANT TO!"

"LOOK WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO MY GIRL, YOUR MAKING HER SICK!"

"Oh no no no no no no no no no" Joey said sounding like his uncle, which scared Grace, "I'm making her a lot better, YOU" Joey pointed a finger at Grace, "Is the one that is making her sick with all of your psycho boyfriends, letting them into the house" It was obvious that Grace was fighting back tears by now. "And one too many if I'm being honest"

Grace didn't know what had caused her to snap and Joey was tired of the constant questioning so he did what he thought was right and stood up, walking over to Chloe he grabbed her arm. He jerked her away and pulled her out of the room. Chloe stayed silent the entire time, as Joey pulled her out of the house and forced her to run as far away as she could, despite the pain in her stomach and the nauseas feeling that she had.

They stopped a while later, Chloe collapsed onto the grass beneath her and let her breathing return to normal.

"What are we going to do now?" Chloe asked in a pleading voice.

"We are going to stay with some family, until everything gets sorted out"

Ph no, Chloe thought as she looked up at Joey again who was pulling out his phone and calling someone.

_Please, anyone but him_

"Hey" Joey said to the person on the other end. This was followed by a silence which cause Chloe to hold her breath and made her feel even worse. "Yeah, there's been a um...incident and we need a place to crash...no not a train!"

Chloe couldn't help but giggle at Joey's reaction; she found it sort of cute actually.

"Yeah...oh and Chloe to...oh thanks" he replied sarcastically. He hung up and looked down at the phone with amusement before putting it away in his pockets.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked, a bit frightened.

"We're going to stay with family for a while" Joey replied. Chloe knew what that meant and she wished that it wasn't true. What would happen if she wound up living with Gotham's most wanted? Would frickin Catwoman or Riddler come along and visit for Sunday lunch? She already felt sick as it was but what if she needed to run. What if Joey got hurt!

Things were screwed up, that was obvious, but Chloe still loved Joey and she wouldn't be able to cope if anything were to happen.

"Are you cold?" Joey asked, noticing Chloe's shaking. He tried to hug some warmth into her and Chloe nodded a little before closing her eyes and hugging Joey back. She relaxed, taking in Joey's sent of vanilla, strawberries and sandalwood. She let her guard down and just stood there in Joeys arms. Joey thought that he was doing the right thing and he was a smart guy. She left out a sigh of exhaustion into Joeys shoulder and hugged him a bit more until he pulled her away by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. He looked as if he were searching for something. "We are gonna stay with him until everything picks up okay? Just two more bullies left"

Chloe looked at her feet and back up at Joey again, "Okay, I get it; you go do what you gotta do"

Joey smirked at his girlfriend. She was getting calmer and calmer and he loved it. She was changing. He was evolving her and she wasn't protesting against him. He really loved this girl and he wasn't going to let go of her, screwed up issues or not.

He bent down to Chloe's level and kissed her. His tongue swept across her bottom lip, demanding entrance and she gave it without argument. They stood there like that until they were interrupted by the sound of screeching tires coming down the street.

Joey pulled away and Chloe clutched her stomach feeling as if she were to puke at any given second. She turned her back to the road and leaned into a nearby trash can. She could hear everything going on behind her, the brakes slamming, the doors opening, people jumping out and Joey mumbling to the Joker. It was obvious it was the Joker seeing as he DID have a very distinctive voice.

She could only make out bits of their conversation though. The Joker asked Joey what was wrong with her and Joey just said that she was probably only coming down with something.

Joey walked over to her and placed a hand on her back saying that they needed to go as Chloe drew in a deep breath and stood up straight.

"Okay" she said as she was lead to the back of the white transit van.

She kept her head down at her hand which Joey had entwined with his own. His nails were chewed down and there were only a little bit of blood on his hand which could be passed off as dirt. By the time they got out of the van and its chatter that she had zoned out of, she had decided that she liked Joey's hands.

When it was finally time to get out of the van, Chloe stepped out into a cool night breeze. She could feel goose bumps rising and she felt a bit scared so she cuddled next to Joey for warmth and protection.

They were lead through a door way and it didn't take long for either teen to notice that they were wandering around inside a school. Joey kept his arm around Chloe at all times and kept walking as the Joker walked ahead rambling about things and trying to crack a few jokes.

"Oh and trash is on Wednesdays" he finished, turning around and pointing a finger to nothing in particular.

"Sounds like fun" Joey smirked, looking like Crane for a split second.

"Wander aroun**d **and pic**k** your own room, I don't care I'm uh...busy" the Joker said before walking off and leaving Joey and Chloe alone in the hallway. Joey held Chloe's hand and led her around the school. Some of the rooms were still set up as classrooms, they were covered in dust and the smell of must was overwhelming. The two teens decided to go up stairs and see what they could find and eventually found a front room with a double bed and its own bathroom and walk in wardrobe which would do perfectly. The key was left in the door and Joey took it out and left it in his pocket for safe keeping.

Chloe ran into the en suite as soon as she entered the room and puked. Joey held her hair for her as she leaned over the toilet and let everything come back up.

"You must really be coming down with something, you should get to bed, it's been a long day"

Chloe nodded and rinsed out her mouth before going back into the bedroom and lying down on the bed. She tiredly kicked off her shoes. She was too tired to fix the blankets or anything and just rolled over, trying to get comfortable. Joey lay down beside her and held her close. It made Chloe feel much better like it had earlier. His scent and his warmth, feeling his arms around her made her feel safe and loved and cared for. It made her relax immediately and helped her fall into a much needed sleep.

Things might actually turn out well for once, as bad as things looked.

**Okay, Chloe is sick : ( and Joey is being cute *sigh  
Joker is being generous but he has got to want something in return. AND WHAT ABOUT CRANE?**

**REVIEW! And you might even get a taster of what is to come mwahah!**

**Skitz;)**


	18. Bacon

**I WROTE THIS IN UNDER 5 HOURS! I still can't believe it. AND I got no reviews so I decided that Joey is going to stop forever...I was going to bring more villains and stuff into it but I don't think that will happen now. Since I got no reviews, I quit. I don't see a point in writing if no one is going to review SO SAY GOODBYE!**

**Fan Art Links are on my page so hurry up before I take them off! Which means NO FACE BOOK AND NO MORE FAN ART! Nada zilch zero! SAY GOODBYE TO JOEY FOREVER! It was fun while he lasted...and to think that he was just an idea, sparked when I walked into class one day that was pretty crappy. It's actually quite ironic, seeing as Joey must have been crappy himself if he didn't get reviews.**

**It was nice while it ran.**

**Skitz;)**

When Chloe woke up Joey was nowhere. She got up and looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. She had no clothes to change into so she left the idea of getting fresh clothes. She decided to explore a bit before Joey came back, or she would find him in the process. She hoped it was the latter since she didn't want to be alone while wandering around the Jokers hide out.

She came across and old reception area and spotted a blonde haired man sitting behind the desk with his feet propped on top of the desk. He seemed immersed in a book that he was reading and snapped his head up when Chloe accidently tripped on some loose carpet.

"Oh, you must be Joey's girlfriend! I'm Chris, I'm in charge of the medical stuff, Joey said you were feeling a bit sick, would you like me to check you over?" the guy known as Chris said genuinely concerned, as he put out his hand for Chloe to shake.

"No thanks I'm good" Chloe replied awkwardly as she shook Chris' hand. It was odd how she would shake hands with a goon that worked for one of Gotham's most wanted and not a harmless stranger girl at school. "So...where is Joey?"

"Oh he is on a job with his uncle, bank job you know? That reminds me" Chris said reaching for something behind the counter "You're gonna need this, I'll probably be busy with everyone else and you might need it just in case. Leave it in your room" he said as he handed Chloe a red and white first aid kit.

"Ugh thanks?"

"No problem, you can leave that in your room now and then you can and come back so I can show you where breakfast is."

Chloe just nodded and headed back towards her room. Chris seemed nice enough, maybe the others were too. Technically none of them could hurt her because Joey would slaughter them and he would also have the Joker behind him so maybe it was safe for her here. She was going to give Joey the biggest thank you kiss ever when he got back.

She smirked as she headed back to the reception area for Chris to show her to the breakfast place. Maybe she would explore later if she had a chance.

When she met up with Chris, he led her down the hallway and through the third door on the right. The room was big, it was probably an old staff lounge. There were sofas and a TV at one side of the room with a kitchenette and even an island at the other side of the room. It was also spotlessly clean which was surprising for Chloe.

Chris led her towards the table and sat her down.

"Serves up!" called a woman, who was walking in with a plate of bacon and a chef hat on her head. She had a bright smile on her face which reminded Chloe of her mother and the whitest teeth Chloe had ever seen. She placed the bacon down on the table. And the smell of bacon hit Chloe full force. She clasped a hand over her mouth and ran from the room.

"What's the matter?" the woman asked Chris concerned.

Chloe ran into her bathroom and puked up whatever had been left since she had already coughed up everything yesterday.

She fell back and leant her head against the cool tiled walls of the bathroom. She took in deep breaths of air and spotted the first aid kit. She thought that maybe something inside it could help her so she got up and walked over to the kit. She opened it and looked into the mirror. The stranger was still there, still looking at her, it was beginning to unnerve her so she looked back down at the kit and began to go through it. She rummaged through creams, plasters and sprays until she eventually stopped in her tracks and picked up a small rectangular box.

000

Joey walked back into the hide out with the rest of the laughing goons, earning slaps on the back of approval and waved goodbye to them as he went back to his room to see if Chloe was there. He opened the door slowly and saw that the bed was empty so it was obvious that she wasn't sleeping. He walked into the room and spotted Chloe's refection in the mirror and heard a faint sniff.

"Chlo?" asked Joey pushing the bathroom door open fully and looking at Chloe who had looked up at him, revealing puffy red eyes. Her face was wet and she looked as if she had been crying for a while now. She was holding something in her hand which sparked Joey's curiosity.

"What's going on?" he asked a bit angrily. It better not be her phone, he thought, no contact was allowed. She could give away everything and ruin everyone's plans. He was practically seeing red as his anger filled him.

Chloe was terrified, not only of the news that she had just gotten but also the way that Joey was looking at her. This wasn't HER Joey. He had been replaced by this angry being. She was also terrified about what this being would do in the future.

Joey growled and snatched away the thing in Chloe's hand and looked down at it. It was a white stick that had two blue lines on it. And then it clicked. Everything in Joey just stopped. It was as if time was standing still. His anger was immediately forgotten and his mouth hung open.

"Oh my God" he barely whispered.

At that moment the door sounded a bang throughout the room and the Joker walked into the bathroom. "What are the kids up to?" asked the clown in purple as he yanked the stick from Joey's grasp. "Gross, you peed on this" he said flinging it into the sink. "Now Joey...what am I gonna do with you?" he said looking down at the blue eyed teen. Joey turned on his heel and ran, leaving Chloe alone with the Clown Prince of Crime. "So, do I hear the patter of little feet?"

"NO BECAUSE THEY DON'T WALK WHEN THEY COME OUT. SO TECHNICALLY YOU WON'T HEAR LITTLE FEET UNTIL ABOUT ONE YEAR AFTER THE FOETUES IS BORN, SO THERE!" Chloe cried, her hormones going haywire, another sign that she should have taken into account. She ran off like Joey and kept running down corridors, even though she didn't know where she was going.

She ended up on the roof, just as the sun was setting and the clouds were becoming dark with oranges and reds. And that's where she spotted Joey.

He was hunched over, his head looking out at the surrounding Gotham buildings.

"Joey?"

"CAN'T YOU SEE I'M THINKING?" he snapped at her.

"You're not the only one that needs someone! And don't you dare try to get rid of me since I'm the one that has to actually HAVE it and carry it for nine months. GIVE ME JOEY BACK! The one that I fell for. The one that I was too embarrassed to tell that I liked. I want the Joey that insisted that we go shopping and stood up for us against those bullies. The one that got me ice-cream when I told him about my dad. I don't want this...angry person!"

"I'm sorry" Joey apologised in a smaller voice than the one he had used before.

Chloe walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, as she took a seat beside him on the makeshift wooden bench.

"I don't want to be like my dad...I don't want a child to be brought into violence" Joey said looking down at his hands.

"It might not, you have nine months to finish off the last few bullies" Chloe said as she made Joey look at her in the eyes. "And it wasn't MADE out of violence"

Joey smirked and replied, "I'm gonna be a daddy"

000

Chloe and Joey walked hand in hand into the room where Chloe had gone for breakfast earlier that morning. Everyone was there from earlier. Well actually it was just Chris and the woman with the teeth. They both looked up as the two teens entered the room.

Instead of saying hello, Chloe just cut right across and said "I'm sorry about earlier, there is a good reason for it! I don't mean to insult you or anything, I bet you're a great cook" to the woman who was now sitting at the table.

Chloe looked up at Joey and smiled as soon as she saw him smiling himself. She took it as a 'tell them' signal and looked back at the two in the room.

"I'm pregnant"

The room went quite and was broken by the woman's intake of breath before gushing "Oh my God, congratulations! That explains everything, oh it's okay, I was never good with bacon anyway"

000

Joey and Chloe were back in their room. Joey said that they were going to go shopping the day after for clothes and things and that he had picked up a few things already so there were clothes at the hide out for them. He was in a good mood as they got into bed and he wrapped his arm around Chloe's stomach as they lay down.

Chloe sighed in contentment and smiled as she closed her eyes and put her own hand over Joey's.

"This feels nice"

"I couldn't agree more" Joey replied and kissed her hair. "I hope it's a boy"

"Nah, it's a girl"

"Motherly instinct coming on already?"

"Nope. I'm gonna make it be a girl."

Joey chuckled and said, "And how do you intend to do that?"

"Eat lots of dairy is what I heard, and children are supposed to do what their parents tell them so...be a girl"

"Be a boy"

"No" Chloe said cheekily with a smirk of her own.

"I like Aidan...as a name, what about you"

Chloe made a tired sound and replied "Kerry"

"That's not a boy's name"

"Well Aidan isn't a girl's name either"

"Come on, just in case I win"

"You win?" Chloe asked turning over to face Joey who was still smiling.

"Yeah, if I win" Joey repeated before he began to tickle Chloe. They stopped a few minutes later and ended up back in their original position. "I like the name Alejandro"

"Oh come on, seriously"

"Okay, Andy, I like Andy"

"What about-" began Joey but he was cut off by Chloe.

"Can we sleep please, I'm tired and stress isn't good for the baby, we will find the perfect name! We have nine months...goodnight Hun, I love you"

"Love you too" Joey replied kissing Chloe again before falling asleep with his girlfriend and child in his arms.

000

The next day Chloe and Joey went shopping for clothes and necessities. They even paid a visit to the baby shop and earned a few glances from the people inside the shop. Chloe got nervous and asked Joey if they could go. He agreed and they headed towards the exit when Joey stopped and froze.

"What is it?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"We never told him"

"Told who?" asked Chloe getting scared.

"Crane"

Chloe froze too. What would he say if he found out? She could just picture the insults that would get thrown about. "We have to don't we?"

"I'm afraid so, Bunny"

Chloe sighed and they both left. They had borrowed a car from one of the goons that they had met earlier that morning at breakfast. They didn't ALL have vans. Allen was nice. He didn't talk much; he had black hair and blue eyes that were a shade lighter than Joey's. He was in charge of weapons and bombs and was also missing parts of two of his fingers.

Roy was cool too. He was gossipy and in charge of maps, navigation and timing. He had hair that was so blonde, it was actually white and he had grey eyes. He would be great for Halloween or a ghost movie. He had spent the morning with them telling them the do's and don'ts of the pregnancy and wished them best wishes for the future before disappearing to plan an explosion.

The two teens arrived at Arkham in less than half an hour. And both got out of the car silently. The staff was as nice as they had been the last time and let both of them through to the visiting room. It turned out that no adults were needed, or in this case something was allowing them to pass.

Chloe fidgeted as she sat down beside Joey and waited for Crane to arrive. Joey had to put his hand over hers to stop her. The door buzzed open and two orderlies led Crane to their booth. Chloe couldn't help but gawk at the resemblance. Joey was the spitting image of him! The same piercing blue eyes, the same hair, the same bone structure. The only difference was the age, hair style and the cold air that Crane had. Joey seemed to be softer whereas Crane was cold and stiff. He terrified her, especially as he glanced at her as he sat down.

"Oh no"

"What?"

"You lost it didn't you? After I told you-"

"Well you haven't been here for the past sixteen years, so what makes you think that I would even consider listening to you now?" Joey snapped. "Besides I'm not here for that, we are only here to give you an update"

"Well if you are engaged, the two of you are stupid, and that's my guess since she is here" Crane said jerking his chin towards Chloe since his hands were literally tied. This caused Chloe to become even more frightened but she didn't want to show weakness by looking at the floor so she looked at Joey.

"Actually no, you're going to be a grandfather" Joey said acidically. "Come on Chlo"

"What? Hey get back here now!" Crane said as Joey stood up. "PLEASE sit down"

Joey sat down after his father had actually asked nicely.

"How long, when did you find out?"

"Found out yesterday" Joey replied.

They filled Crane in on everything until visiting hours were over and Chloe and Joey left. Crane was led back to his cell by the orderlies as usual. He needed to hang onto Joey. He wanted to yell at him and hit him for being so stupid and he wanted to scold the girl for going along with him. She did look a bit like Grace and he had never liked Grace. She was always trying to turn Angela against him. But in a way if she had actually gotten Angela to go, maybe she wouldn't be dead and maybe things would be different in a nicer way.

But as he had already thought; he needed his son. He may be the key to get out of this place yet.

000

When they got back to the hide out Joey kissed Chloe as he left her alone in the room to unpack with all the bags and went to find his uncle to see if there were any jobs going, and maybe ask him about the next victims on his 'to kill' list.

"Do it yourself kid, you got the hang of it now, I'm busy with this job" the clown has said pointing to the maps that he was staring at. Joey just kept quiet and left the room without another word. He got into one of the vans and drove off; he wanted this all to end as soon as possible because he wanted everything dealt with before the baby came.

He drove to one of the spots that teenagers used for smoking and drinking. Smoker's Spot was well known for its trouble makers and misfits. He eventually found the guy that he was after. He would notice that never ending voice anywhere. Talko was saying goodbye to a group of kids that were seated around a fire. Joey got out of the car and kept to the shadows, following Talko as he walked off down the street.

Talko stopped on the bridge and threw up. Joey crinkled his nose in disgust and grabbed him from behind, holding a knife to his throat.

"Hello, miss me?"

"Joey?" Talko choked. "Listen man I'm sorry, about everything really, I just had to follow Shocks ya know? I'm dead meat if I don't"

"And your dead meat now that you are" Joey whispered in his ear before knocking him out.

When Talko woke up he felt something tight around his feet. He looked down and saw Joey watching him intently. They were on a lower part of the bridge now, where no one ever went.

"Now, finally, you are going to die, to explain it to you simply and it is gonna be tonight. I never worked with water before so be happy that you are the first!" Joey said picking up a huge, heavy looking brick and getting ready to throw it into the water. "Oh" he added before throwing it in, "And hopefully, you'll be the last" And with that he dropped the brick into the water.

Talko screamed as he was dragged into the water since his feet were tied to the brick. Joey watched the bubbles in the air as Talko struggled below the water, gasping for air.

The drive home was a short one. Joey was relieved that he only had one bully left. Then it would be all over. No one asked any questions when he arrived 'home'. Joey walked towards his room to Chloe who was after falling asleep. He didn't blame her; she had a lot ahead of her. And hopefully the road ahead was a good one.

**AND THERE IS YOUR LAST CHAPTER!**

**Did you like it? Review if you did to say your goodbyes...you never know, I might even let him live to see another chapter. Because I AM SERIOUS about ending him forever. If things stay the same I might even kill him off, send the Joker to Arkham and leave Chloe all alone while her mother decides to drink herself to death.**

**You never know**

**It was nice writing for you**

**S.V ;)**


	19. LAST CHANCE! AdvertsFacebook

**I Know, AuthorsNote, Boring.**

**BUT, I am hear to say, since Joey is going UNReviewed, and I quit writing him, I have a window of opportunity open to you!**

**Since everyone practically has a facebook page, all you have to do is Join Joeys new page.**

**Here ya go XD**

**http : / www. facebook. Com / # ! / pages / Joeys – Story / 102197676519335**

**Just take away the spaces**

**Skitz**

**x**


	20. Trying To Be Perfect For A Murderer

**Finished at last!  
There is a Harry Potter quote from the new movie in here...well it's not perfect but you will understand it...if you get it...you will get a teaser of Joey's next chapter/story...ONLY if he goes on, if he dosen't, you will get a teaser of something else...and I am ALWAYS working on something;)**

**It all depends on the reviews;)**

**Thanks to everyone on Facebook that joined Joey's page... there is a link up now, in case you weren't able to access it.**

**Enjoy!**

**Skitz**

**x**

_Joey was standing in his room. Chloe's back was facing him and she was hunched over, she seemed busy with something. He walked over to the side and saw that she was packing._

"_What are you doing?" Joey snapped at her._

"_I can't do this anymore" she sobbed. Tears were streaming down her face and Joey noticed her baby bump. She can't be doing this, he thought as he continued to watch her pack her bag. He wanted to walk over to her and pull everything out of the bag, he wanted to tell her that she wasn't leaving and that they would sort everything out but he was frozen in place._

_He watched as Chloe broke down in front of him. It was obvious that this was hurting her so why was she doing it?_

"_Why are you doing it then? What about the baby, it's mine too" Joey pointed out._

_Chloe took in a ragged breath and look at him with red eyes. "Because you didn't want it to be born into violence….or at least the old you anyway."_

"_What old me?"_

"_You, Joey! You weren't always so hell bent on revenge! You used to be the bigger man and walk away! And you showed yourself that day on the roof! I don't want the new Joey that just goes around killing people over the slightest reason! There's a child to think about now!" Chloe said raising her voice and letting a fresh round of tears to fall._

_She zipped up her case and walked towards the door, or wobbled more like. She sniffed as she walked towards the door but it banged open and in walked the Joker._

"_Well well…I'm afraid tha__**t**__ thi__**s**__ won'__**t**__ do." He said darkly to a retreating Chloe. _

"_No don't please" she begged._

"_Why not? Two for the price of one?" he replied with a dark smile on his face. Joey didn't want to see, he couldn't, he wanted it to stop. He wanted to jump in front of Chloe, he had to protect her! What had happened that had caused this? What had he missed?_

_The Joker ran towards her and pinned her up against a wall. She wracked with tears and kept begging._

"_NO STOP WAIT!" Joey screamed at the clown. But it was too late. His knife was already out and he plunged it into Chloe's baby bump. She let out a gasp and a pained look crossed her features. Not just of physical pain but also one for the baby. As if she was speaking for the unborn child._

"_How could you?" She whispered before falling to the floor._

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Joey shot up in bed. His breathing was coming quick and he looked around. He was in his room and everything seemed perfectly normal.

He looked down at the other side of the bed and saw a lump under the blanket and fiery red hair, resting on the pillow. Joey breathed a sigh of relief. He got out of bed and went over to the window. It was bright out...probably around 10am.

He looked back at Chloe one last time before leaving the room and heading toward the kitchen/living room. The place was empty so Joey made some cereal and went over to watch some television. He ended up watching the news after a picture of his uncle caught his eye.

_And to repeat, Joey Napier and Chloe Daniels have been thought to be kidnapped by the Joker. The two disappeared around two days ago and have been missing ever since. For more details visit our website and if you have any information please contact the police. And that's all for now. Good afternoon._

The news broadcaster was young with black hair that fell to her shoulders and a serious look on her face. Joey heard a chuckle from the doorway. He looked behind him and saw the Joker leaning casually against the door frame in his full purple suit and greasepaint. _I don't get kidnapped_ thought Joey as his uncle stepped into the room and took a seat in the chair across from him as he turned off the television.

"Hell**o** dadd**y**" the Joker greeted as he sat down.

"Grand uncle" Joey replied with a smirk.

"Ugh...I'm not _that _old. Is that girl of yours even ol**d** enough to have a kid? She looks like she's te**n**"

"Hey"

"No offen**s**e"

"There's only three months between us actually"

There was an awkward silence for a while after Joey said that. Until eventually the Joker broke it with, "Any names picked ye**t**?"

"Nothing agreeable...we should just call it Sam and leave it at that" Joey mumbled into his joined hands which were resting in his lap.

The Joker chuckled. "I'm gonna have to stay away from her the**n**. I think I scare her too much, she migh**t **miscarry or some**thing**…the kid will probably repel green eggs and ham while it's at it"

Joeys head snapped up and he looked at his uncle seriously before replying. "Don't let her watch the Exorcist"

"Please, you found tha**t **scary? That was a comedy...it had to have been" the Joker brushed aside.

"She can't leave the place though, not unless I'm with her, she is on lockdown!"

"Your nothing like your dad kid, I'll give ya tha**t**"

"Thanks...He was kinda shocked when he found out about...you know"

"You tol**d** him"

"Yeah...he's cool with it now though"

"No he isn'**t**" the Joker said darkly, his tone dropping and his hands clenching the arms of the chair.

"What do you mean?"

"Play it safe kid, he is u**p** to something...he is using you so he can achieve some-_thing_, otherwise he would have insulted you to no en**d**"

This left Joey with a lot to think about.

000

Chloe had woken up to see Joey watching her from the chair near the end of the bed. He was watching her intently and seemed immersed in his thoughts.

"Erh...Joey?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"You're creeping me out"

"Okay" Joey replied, still staring at her. Joey stayed like that for a few minutes until Chloe began to move and get out of the bed but Joey wouldn't let her, instead he stood up and sat on the bed next to her. He gently brushed the back of his hand against her cheek as he gazed down at her. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you okay? I promise, when all of this is over it's just going to be the three of us, and in the future when everything is sorted out maybe we can get married, you know. A proper family."

As much as Chloe liked his speech, she was still creeped out.

"Joey? What happened? What's wrong?"

Joey let out a small light laugh ad looked at her again. "Just try not to put yourself in harm's way okay? I know this place can be rough but we won't be here forever okay?"

"Please, it's not like anyone is going to try and hurt me. If they, then you would have never brought me here. It's not like Scarlett Jones is going to barge in any time soon."

"Huh?"  
"It's nothing" Chloe tried to change the subject but Joey wouldn't let her drop it. He needed to know what she was going to say, who was this girl that she was talking about.

"Just an old bully, it's over now really. She wouldn't try anything again" Chloe would have liked to say that the girl had tones of kids and no husband with no exams done or anything like that but she couldn't say much since she was in a predicament a little similar, the only difference was she had Joey.

"When I was eight….no that's not how I should start….okay….remember when we used to go to those schools that separated us?"

Joey wasn't entirely sure where this was going but he nodded anyway. This wasn't the best way to wake up in the morning.

"Well she used to be MY bully you could say. When I left that school I swore that I would never allow bullies dominate my life again"

"So that's why you were the way you were with Shocker and those guys, you scared them and took no crap form any of them" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yah"

"What did she do?"

"I don't want-"

"Tell me!"

Chloe took in a breath, she hated when Joey got like this. She didn't want to repeat things that Scarlett had put her through so she pulled back her sleeve and showed her arm to Joey instead of speaking.

Joey's eyes widened as he saw the thin red marks running up and down Chloe's arm. He had never noticed her arm before, since she always wore long sleeved tops or usually hid her hands which Joey had always thought of as nerves.

"It started with little things like pushing me against lockers and stuff and then…we were in science and the teacher left and there were scalpels…Please don't make me say anything more" Chloe's voice broke at the end, tears welling up in her eyes.

Joey couldn't bear to see her this way so he did what every other boyfriend in his position would do and held her close. He let her cry into his shoulder, a part of him happy that he had made her tell him about Scarlett but there was also another part of him the regretted it.

Hadn't anyone in the class tried to help? Was Scarlett so scary that no one would dare cross her even if the opposing people were an entire group of people?

Joey only had one bully left.

But once he was finished, he had to take care of this Scarlett girl…maybe it would be a great chance for the two of them to connect, not exactly a date but…she had been a burden to Chloe, so who wouldn't enjoy getting rid of a burden?

His eyes grew dark as Chloe rested her head on his shoulder. He gripped her a bit more tightly and tried to console her by saying, "It will all work out, it'll all blow over", the dark look still in his eyes and the threatening expression on his face hidden by Chloe's hair.

Scarlett was dead.

000

Chloe's appetite had certainly increased and there was no denying it.

The Joker had tried to stick to his word but he still walked into the room now. Chloe was beginning to get used to the place though.

She was now best friends with the cook, Valerie, who had been stuffing Chloe since the day that they had told everyone about the pregnancy.

She was eating for two now….or three….no one really knew, there had been no scans Joey noticed as Chloe ate some more grilled cheese.

"Next thing we know, you will be mixing weird things together before eating them" Chris commented from the other end of the table, newspaper in hand.

Chloe threw him a dirty look, her mood swings had been increasing lately and everyone had been on their toes but things were beginning to smooth out now.

Joey still had to finish off one more bully…but then he had another person to attend to.

He kissed the top of Chloe's head and left the room as he heard Chris begin to speak.

He had to help his uncle with a bank today; maybe he would take Chloe out for dinner. Come to think of it, they had never been on a real date.

Wow things were backwards!

He went to get his bag and mask before heading towards the van. He jumped into the passenger seat and put the mask on top of his head and loading the guns in the bag while the driver door opened and in hopped the Joker.

No words were exchanged while Joey was loading the guns, he knew the plan anyway. It was odd in a way though. Just a few months ago he was sitting in an orphanage dreading going to school for fear of getting beaten up. Secretly liking Chloe but not admitting it, not even himself.

And now look.

He knew his background, he found relatives, the bullies were gone, well a majority of them anyway, and he was about to become a dad. Life was pretty great at the moment.

They pulled up behind the bank and jumped out, going straight into action. It was a small bank with hardly any security.

It was in a run-down part of the city where everyone did everything lazily and didn't care about anything.

Of course they would care about their money going missing though.

The goons ran in first followed by Joey and then, finally, the Joker.

Things began normally. The Joker had a few words to share while the goons held everyone at gun point and bagged the money. Joey was one of the goons that watched the hostages. Everything was running smoothly until he noticed the family of three that were crouched in the corner.

There was a slim blonde woman crouched over a little boy, no older than five or six. The boy had wide eyes; he didn't know what was happening. The man, probably the father, was crouched over the woman and child like a shield.

It made Joey think, that could e him and Chloe…if the Joker wanted all of these hostages dead, would he be able to kill them?

Soon enough, the money had been loaded into the back of the van, a few brave hostages were shot, and the Joker and his goons began to depart.

Just as they were walking out Joey looked back at the family, he wished that he could throw the kid something useful that he could keep but he had nothing on him. And then another thought hit him. That might be Joey and Chloe but it _could have_ been Joey with his parents once upon a time…or him and his mother at least.

On the journey back to the hideout, he pushed the thoughts and images of the family aside and thought of where he could go with Chloe. He wanted to take her out. She deserved it. In the last week she hadn't complained or cried or whined. She was perfect, not to mention the fact that she was carrying his child and they had never been on a real date, even though they had been together for a while now.

As soon as they got back to the hideout he took hesitation and instantly ran to his and Chloe's room. He found her lying on her side on top of the bed with her nose buried in a book. Usually she would lie on her stomach but her belly was beginning to get a bit bigger now. She was beginning to show.

"You are going to get dolled up" he declared, walking into the room and getting her attention.

"Where are we going?" Chloe asked, taking her head out of her book.

"Why do you assume you are going out?" Joey tested before cracking a smile and coming over to sit on the bed beside her, "If you must know, we," he kissed her on the nose, "Are going on a date" he declared happily.

"A date?"

"Yes, and it is a surprise" Joey replied with a huge grin.

"The movies?"

"Oh how did you guess" Joey joked sarcastically.

000

The cinema wasn't overly packed. It was nice and quiet for a Wednesday.

Joey and Chloe walked up to the concession stand with Joeys arm draped over Chloe's shoulder casually, like a normal couple.

Chloe had chosen a loose top to hide her bump that was beginning to appear and a pair of leggings. They were the best that she could do on such short notice. A first she was nervous but then she calmed down when Joey began to smile and act normally; he was a lot like the old Joey. Chloe had been getting used to the new Joey and was beginning to think that he was quite fair.

She still missed the old Joey at times though, so she was obviously enjoying it while Joey was like this, so care free and happy. She couldn't help but smile in response. It was as if someone had flicked a switch and a light inside of him and turned on.

She tried to go all out for him tonight and curled her hair. She even hunted down her glittery hair clips and slipped the front of her hair away from her face.

Tonight was going to be nice and normal.

"Large popcorn with butter, a packet of Maltesers and M&M's and….." Joey began to recite everything to the guy behind the counter as Chloe looked around at the up-coming movies.

She spotted a few sequels and movies that she had originally read in their book form that she planned to see in the future, Maybe they could come back here again? Maybe it could be a weekly thing?

She was handed her drink as Joey paid the guy at the counter and shoved the bags of candy into his pockets. He picked up the popcorn and handed it to Chloe as he picked up his own drink and draped his free hand back over her shoulders. He was nice and warm and he smelled of cologne and smoke. She just wanted to curl up beside him. She could stay like this forever.

They walked into their screening area and sat near the back corner out of view of any other people. People could recognize them. The place was nearly empty except for Joey and Chloe and some guy with glasses that was sitting near the front.

"First date, seems well so far, I wonder if I will end up as lucky as most guys" Joey said.

Chloe giggled, "And how far would that be Mr. Napier?" Chloe teased as she popped some popcorn into his mouth.

"Well," Joey began looking up at the ceiling and chewing which really shined a whole new light on the phrase 'food for thought'. He really did look as if he was thinking about something. "For the first date I would have to say…" Joey was dragging this out and Chloe was getting sick of it. So she shut him up the nicest way possible and reached in and kissed him. She was about to pull away when Joey pulled her back in to deepen the kiss. She was really beginning to enjoy the night. At first she was nervous but now she was fine. Joey made her feel safe. And somehow after she had told him about Scarlett, she felt better. Was that wrong of her? Didn't she have a right to be happy just as much as anyone else?

She was happy tonight and damn t, she was going to enjoy it.

000

Yesterday had been amazing…or last night to be more precise. A good movie followed by dinner with the girl of his dreams, as corny as it sounded.

He whistled as he set up the trap that Shocker was going to walk straight into.

He took this route every day, and Joey knew this very well because it was a route that he avoided for the past few years.

Shocker would trip on the wire which would give Joey just enough time to jump out and knock him out. The rest would be history.

After this, it would only be Scarlett but Joey thought about giving Chloe the choice of doing the job herself. She might not be too keen on the idea at first but he could get her to come around.

He heard the faint shuffle of feet and quickly hid behind a garbage can. He saw Shocker trying to walk casually between the two buildings, it wasn't like a REAL alleyway but it was quite similar.

Joey could tell that he was on edge though. His right hand man was gone, missing and he didn't know where he was or how to contact him. Shocker was alone and it made him paranoid.

Just as he reached the last garbage ran he tripped over the wire He didn't fall but as he tried to keep his balance, Joey took his opportunity and hit him over the head with a pole that had been thrown by the garbage can. Probably an old piece of a washing line.

He threw it away nonchalantly and looked down at Shocker in his unconscious form.

This was going to be fun.

000

Shocker's eyes opened slowly. His hands were tied behind his back in a painful grip and he could feel water. As if he was IN water.

"Finally…Sleeping Beauty awakens" Joey said with a smirk form the corner.

Shocker tried to crane his neck around to see but it was no use.

Joey stood up and walked over to him though. Knife in one hand and lighter with the other.

"What the hell, what's going on, why are you here?" Shocker sneered, trying to keep up his façade.

"Typical, typical, typical" Joey repeated under his breath to himself. "I'm just here to make sure you're okay, you know? Everything goes according to plan?" Joey acted as if this was the most normal thing in the world, as if this was actually a good thing to be happy about.

Shocker was scared now.

"I know what we can do…how about see if _you_ are fire resistant?" Joey asked innocently the menace shiny darkly in his eyes.

He put the lighter underneath the knife and let it heat up.

Shocker tried to struggle out of his restraints with wide eyes as soon as he had pieced together what Joey had said.

"Look, I'm sorry man, I was clowning around you know? Besides I have a reputation that I need to uphold, it's a big world out there, you can't let people trample all over you"

"Wow, that's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say" Joey taunted, watching as the knife turned a cherry red colour.

"Well" Shocker was beginning to turn angry now, "You're a freak anyway, no one likes you, and that 'friend' of yours must have some serious problems if she actually _likes_ you" Shocker spat.

Joey growled in response and pressed the blade against Shockers neck. He screamed in pain and gritted his teeth together, showing the veins in his head pop.

Chloe was stuffed. Valerie had fed her a feast, saying that she was feeding for two now. Chris had joked about it being for three only to be swatted away by Valerie and her towel. It had been a nice morning, very relaxing. The Joker had been away negotiating something with yesterday's money.

The night with Joey has been amazing; Quiet and relaxing and just the two of them.

She smiled as she walked down the hall towards their room and opened the door but the smile disappeared when she heard the screaming. She opened the door to the bathroom and nearly fainted. Shocker was lying in the bathtub with blood dripping down the side of his face. He was in obvious pain and his eyes showed sock when they fell upon Chloe.

A voice inside Chloe's head was cackling with laughter.

Joey's head snapped over to Chloe as he raised his knife over Shocker.

"Oh…hiya Hun...I'm just working"

"WHAT THE HELL? It's bad enough…..HERE?...Oh My God!, Are you crazy? HERE!" Chloe began to rant, throwing her hands into the hair and pacing the bathroom.

"Psychotic Freak….I don't even know if I want to be with you anymore or have your child, I-"

Chloe was cut off with a slapping noise as Joey's hand got her across the face.

Chloe lost her balance and fell onto the hard tiled surface.

There was an awkward silence; Joey could only stare at Chloe and his hands.

"Oh shit…..I wanted to enjoy this…oh fuck it" he said before picking up the boom box that had been resting by the mirror and chucking it into the tub with Shocker.

Sparks flew; screams were heard along with the splashing of water until, eventually, it all ended.

Shocker lay in the tub, his skin burned, his eyes closed, and his hands draped over the sides of the tub.

He was dead. Shocker had been shocked to death. Joey couldn't help but chuckle at the poetic justice.

He bent down to help Chloe stand up. She groaned as she was hoisted to her feet and grabbed a hold of the sink for support.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked as if she hadn't just insulted him.

"Okay for you baby" she purred, with a sly smile on her face. To any normal person, they would think that she was disoriented and had just hit her head really hard.

"You are _not_ Chloe" Joey pointed out to the red haired girl that he was supporting.

"Of course I am "she replied, feigning hurt as she walked over to the bed. "I'm insulted babe, don't you remember me?" she said seductively pulling him by his jacket closer to her.

"Babe?" Joey whispered to himself, and then it clicked. The baby.

He pulled out her grip and began to drag her down the hallway. It was beginning to get dark which cast an eerie blue glow onto everything including the neglected looking lockers that lined the walls.

"Getting mysterious are we" Chloe giggled.

Joey ignored her as he passed the reception desk and knocked Chris's legs off of the desk which almost cause him to fall off his chair.

"Jeez Joey, what is so important?" he asked grouchily.

"Chloe needs to go for a scan NOW!" Joey shouted in response.

Chris got up and grabbed the keys to one of the vans before running the door. He hopped into the drivers sat while Joey got into the passenger side.

Chloe squealed and declared that she got to sit in his lap and they were off.

Chris was a bit suspicious of Chloe, it wasn't like her to act that way, she was more shy, and private.

"What happened?" Chris asked instead.

"She fell; we just need her to get checked over"

Chris dropped it afterwards; it was obvious that Joey didn't want to talk about it.

000

The gel had been cold and the monitor hadn't helped but at least she had gotten a glimpse of her baby.

A first the doctor was a bit surprised to see two young teenagers and a fully grown man enter his clinic but he got over got soon enough. It wasn't _that_ rare to see a pregnant teenager for him.

Joey had held her hand the entire way and she was happy. As soon as they had arrived the…_other_ Chloe left and she was in control again, she knew that she had to tell Joey but…she didn't know what she was going to do.

The baby's pulse was perfect and the doctor said that since it was their first time, he wouldn't tell them the child's gender.

They had expected as much.

Chris had stayed quiet and Joey had watched the screen in awe, they could see the head and the little hands. It was a baby, a real baby, _their_ baby!

Joey smiled brightly at Chloe; they were going to meet this child and raise it and teach it! This feeling was incredible, like nothing he had experienced before.

The doctor said that soon the baby would be kicking and that it could be at any time of the day. Sleeping might get a bit difficult and some strange eating habits may occur but that would be all normal.

And here they were, snuggled up on the couch, watching TV. As bad as the day had begun, it had turned into a nice one. That is, of course, until reality stepped in to crush there little chance of a good day.

A man, in his thirties or forties walked into the room. No one had seen him before. He had black hair and pale green eyes that looked as if they could see right through you. He seemed a bit tough and wore a plain black T-shirt that showed his muscles and a few tattoos.

"Chloe?" he asked, like a nurse coming out of the doctor's office and looking for the next patient.

"Who's asking" Joey replied sternly to the man. He seemed a rough, and not the kind that he wanted Joey to be around, especially now. Joey was getting a bad vibe form him and he didn't trust it.

By the time Joey had finished his mental ramblings, he noticed that the stranger was sitting on the coffee table and talking intently to Chloe.

"And then I met you're mother and we were young and carefree and we spent a night together and then I had to leave. I heard that Grace had a child nine months later and I knew that your mother isn't a woman that goes off with everyman she meets so I knew that you were mine. I tried to contact you but your mother was against it. I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I still can't believe that you're here. I'm happy that I get to see you but I still admit that I'm surprised."

Chloe could only stare at the man with wide eyes, unable to speak.

Joey watched her as she tried to get her mouth to work and looked back at the man who seemed a bit awkward.

"Well wha**t** have we got he**re**!" sang a voice from the doorway.

"Ger, wha**t** are you doing he**re**?" the Joker stalked his way into the room, toying with his knife in his gloved hands.

"I'm just talking to my daughter" the stranger known as Ger replied stiffly.

The Joker whistled and smirked, "Well this is ce**rt**-ain_ly_ interesting, I bet no one expected thi**s**" he giggled as he got closer to the group with a dark smile on his face.

000

Chloe talked to her dad everyday from that point on. Joey saw her in the mornings and just before they went to bed since he had also been loaded with work by his uncle. They had been assassinating the past few weeks. Apparently the Joker had something big planned. They were like a real family now. The girlfriend at home doing girly things while the boyfriend went out to work and came home in the evenings.

Everything was going well until one afternoon after Joey got back from raiding some drug dealers apartment.

Chloe's back was facing him as she sat on the bed sniffling.

"What's wrong, Chlo? What happened?"

That's when the change happened. The crying stopped as if a button had been pressed and the look in Chloe's eyes changed.

"Isn't it obvious Joey babes? Gerard has been hurting our little Chloe. He needs to be stopped. But you're here now and nothing bad can happen. I think I deserve some cheering up" Chloe purred, standing up and walking over to Joey.

"You're not Chloe"

"I am too" Chloe pouted, placing a hand on her hip and a hand on his jacket. "And I need to be cheered up before you have to save me from daddy" she whispered before pulling him down and crashing her lips against her own.

Each tongue fought for dominance. The other Chloe definitely knew what to do and what to say but Joey had originally fallen for the other Chloe that cried and was emotionally sensitive and cried when a friend backstabbed her or a relative died or a boyfriend of Graces left that she had actually liked. It was still Chloe though that he was making out with and pulling him onto the bed.

"Don't worry, I can't get pregnant, Chloe has that covered"

"I can't it could harm the baby…who are you if you aren't Chloe?"

"Just call me Pixie toots" Chloe giggled before pulling Joey's head back down.

000

"WHAT THE HELL?" Chloe screamed.

Joey rolled over and opened his eyes a little bit and shut them again as the light hit his face. The sun was shining through the windows and casting shadows on the walls. It was very early in the morning.

"What's a matter?" Joey groaned, lifting his sleepy head off of the pillow.

"WHAT'S A MATTER? YOU JUST SLEPT WITH ANOTHER WOMAN!" Chloe screeched at him.

"No I didn't" Joey moaned, trying to face her and putting a hand above his eyes to block out the sun. Chloe was standing there with a sheet wrapped around her body and a vengeful look on her face.

"YOU CHEATED ON ME!"

"It was still you're body!" Joey pointed out, wishing he could go back to sleep instead of fighting.

"So you're only with me for my body?"

"No, I-"

"You knew that wasn't me, I was watching!"

"Aw Chloe come on!"

"NO" she screamed again before storming into the bathroom.

000

Joey had left earlier that morning muttering something about business and left an angry Chloe sitting at the breakfast table. She had stayed quiet and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What's Joey's pro_b_-**lem**….kids the**se** days, tut tut…did we have a figh**t**?" teased the Joker, walking in to grab the newspaper.

"We're fine"

"No**t** from where I'm **stand**-_ing"_

"He cheated on me, happy?" snapped Chloe, not knowing _why_ she had just said that.

"With who, if you don't mind me asking" he has pretending to be very posh with his grammar and pronunciation by way of making her crack a smile. It didn't work though, and he didn't like it. "Or are we going to ta**lk** about Daddy Deare**st**?"

"Me!"

"Wha**t** about you?"

"He cheated on me with…me" Chloe replied in a small voice. Months from now she wouldn't have been able to sit at a breakfast table and talk like this to him but things had changed and so had her state of mind.

"Joey's always going to ta**ke** advantage of you. He'll use you for when he wan**ts** a loving caring girlfriend and this... this erh...othe**r** chick for when he needs a real woman. You know tha**t** though. The other gal is your minds way of telling you that you'll neve**r** be good enough for him" the Joker commented from across the table.

That got Chloe thinking…was it really Pixie that was in her head the night the baby was conceived or was it the fact that Joey was after having too much beer?

"Face it; you're trying to be perfect for a murderer"

In a way, she had been doing that since before he became the vengeful murderer. The whole murdering thing had been what got the ball rolling. That's what changed everything but a voice in Chloe's head was nagging her, telling her that the man across from her was only trying to get to her. But that voice was fading. Even though she knew that it was the same man that had broken Joey. She didn't like to think of Joey as a weak person so it was obvious that the Joker was very strong and very good at toying with people's heads.

_Like Joey's dad_

Thoughts were zooming around Chloe's head going a million miles a minutes. Frustrating, confusing, conflicting thoughts buzzed. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Leave me alone!"

She ran from the room so she could argue with Pixie in peace.

000

Gerard wasn't a hard man to find. He was staying in a run-down apartment by the Narrows that smelled of beer, sex and smoke. He was sitting in an old armchair when Joey found him. He was laughing at the television with a bottle of Bud in his hand and completely oblivious to the fact that someone was after breaking into his apartment and was standing behind him, holding a baseball bat.

"What happened?" Joey growled as if he were trying to be patient. Ger jumped out of his chair and snapped around to face Joey, who was ready to strike with the bat.

"What? Nothing happened, I swear" Gerard raised his hands in defence.

"Really?" Joey asked in a fake curious voice, "That's not what I've been hearing"

"I had a few drinks and I wasn't thinking, I wouldn't hurt my kid after I get to meet her, you'll know that soon enough"

"Time up, I'm bored" Joey stated before swinging the bat. The bat collided with the older man's arm and he fell over, hitting his head off of the corner or a nearby table before finally hitting the floor.

"Yeah" he laughed, blood pouring out of his mouth. "You will definitely know, Chloe won't stay with you, she isn't that stupid! She is going to leave you all alone and you are never going to see that child!"

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you and…" Joey bent down the Gerard's level on the floor, "Guy to guy, I'm not going to make the mistakes that my dad made…or mistakes that you've made for that matter. I'm not going to kill you because then Chloe would never talk to me, so I will probably maim or seriously hurt you instead, until you get the message that I am about to give you." Joey stood up again and looked down at Ger, who raised a hand to his mouth and stared at the blood on his hand.

"Get. Out. Of. Town. And. Never. Come. Back" Joey said darkly through his teeth, his eyes growing darker with every word. "Or I might just have to come back"

He raised bat, getting ready for another blow.

"Wait wait. No. Please!"

Joey lowered the bat and looked at the man on the floor expectantly.

"I'll go"

"Fine, just make sure that you don't set another foot here again."

And with that Joey left, his baseball bat swinging by his side.

000

Chloe was crying, again. She noticed that she had been doing that a lot lately. The only difference was that this time, she had a plan and she knew what she was doing. If Pixie was the type of girl that Joey was after, then he could pick her up and on the side walk. Because _she_ sure as hell wasn't going to sit back and let herself become his bitch.

She let the tears fall silently as she put her clothes into a suitcase and thought of everything that had happened.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

**Oh please, you just ain't woman enough**

_Go away!_

**Make me**

_NOW!_

**What're you going to do huh? Hit me?**

Pixies voice laughed in her head. Laughed _at _her. She was stupid and weak, she wouldn't deny it.

The door slammed open, "Look I know that we-" Joey began, until he noticed what Chloe was up to.

"What are you doing?" he growled, and angry look upon his face. Chloe sniffled and zipped up the case.

"I have to go"

"Go where, Grace? And then what? Let her find out that her little girl isn't that little anymore? That her daughter hasn't swallowed a planet yet is huge! FACE IT CHLOE!"

"FACE WHAT?" she screamed back, "That that the father of my child has gone psycho? You're just trying to ruin my life…dragging me away from my only family, my school life…EVERYTHING! You're so obsessed with seeking revenge that your definition of right and wrong has gone out the window with your sanity!"

She grabbed the bag and headed out the door and down the hallway, she was almost gone until she remembered that she had left something in the living area so she changed direction and went there instead. "Just because you feel that you're nothing, doesn't mean that you have to drag other people down with you."

She headed over to the work top to grab what she had forgotten. The room was empty, the TV was turned on and showing the evening news and the curtains were closed.

Joey walked in with an angry look on his face.

"Listen here, I am-" Joey began but got cut off by Chloe.

"SHUT UP A SECOND!" her attention seemed elsewhere as she fixed her gaze upon the television set. She turned it up and forgot everything as she took a seat to watch the news.

_And just to recap tonight's news. Jonathon Crane has escaped Arkham Asylum. He was last seen at North Gotham High and is extremely dangerous and armed. We remind all citizens to be vigilant and to stay indoors. Keep in tune for further updates. Good Evening._

Chloe just looked back at Joey, everything forgotten, with wide eyes, "What're we going to do?"

**Review or Joey dosen't continue! EVER This is the last chapter of Joey's Story forever..If i get reviews, he may get a sequel.**

**It's been a pleasure writing for you guys.**

**S-V**


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